Automated intelligent provisioning of data storage resources in response to user requests in a data storage management system

ABSTRACT

A data storage management system comprises enhanced capabilities for automatically discovering operational characteristics of data storage devices installed in the system. A user interface enables end-users to submit requests for storage resources ranging from a simple request for a certain amount of storage space to more complex requests that specify the type of storage technology, the manufacturer, the I/O speed of the storage device, etc. The end-user also may include an expiration timeframe for the requested storage space. The system identifies storage devices that are suitable to the end-user&#39;s request, automatically provisions the storage space (e.g., LUN), and assigns it to the requestor. The assigned storage space may automatically expire, based on user-requested or system-provided expiration timeframes. Expired storage space is returned to a logical pool of available resources so that it may be assigned in response to other requests. The system comprises special-purpose policies that govern which data storage devices may be used for users submitting requests and further specify other administrative constraints.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE TO ANY PRIORITY APPLICATIONS

Any and all applications, if any, for which a foreign or domesticpriority claim is identified in the Application Data Sheet of thepresent application are hereby incorporated by reference under 37 CFR1.57.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentand/or the patent disclosure as it appears in the United States Patentand Trademark Office patent file and/or records, but otherwise reservesall copyrights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND

Businesses recognize the commercial value of their data and seekreliable, cost-effective ways to protect the information stored on theircomputer networks while minimizing impact on productivity. A companymight back up critical computing systems such as databases, fileservers, web servers, virtual machines, and so on as part of a daily,weekly, or monthly maintenance schedule. The company may similarlyprotect computing systems used by its employees, such as those used byan accounting department, marketing department, engineering department,and so forth. Given the rapidly expanding volume of data undermanagement, companies also continue to seek innovative techniques formanaging data growth, for example by migrating data to lower-coststorage over time, reducing redundant data, pruning lower priority data,etc. Enterprises also increasingly view their stored data as a valuableasset and look for solutions that not only protect and manage, but alsoleverage their data. For instance, data analysis capabilities,information management, improved data presentation and access features,and the like, are in increasing demand.

SUMMARY

Provisioning of data storage resources can be time-consuming andtechnically challenging, because of diverse storage technologies,interconnect protocols, manufacturers, operational parameters,configuration options, management interfaces, and administratorexpertise. For many end-users, data storage provisioning is a one-timeevent that typically occurs when someone joins an organization orobtains a computing device requiring access to external storage.Typically, this one-time event is handled by a system administrator whosets up the data storage configuration and communicates any pertinentinformation to the end-user.

However, some end-users require relatively frequent and/or changeableprovisioning of additional data storage resources, but they lack theprivileges necessary to do the provisioning. For example, a financedepartment might need additional data storage for a number of auditorsconducting an audit; a tester might need a variety of different datastorage resources for test purposes and may have specific needs forcertain storage technologies, manufacturers, and other operationalcharacteristics that are pertinent to the testing task; etc. Suchscenarios can require substantial skill and research to identifyappropriate storage resources and determine their availability, andultimately can become burdensome on system administrators.

The present inventors devised a more streamlined approach thatintelligently and automatically provisions data storage resources inresponse to end-user requests. An illustrative data storage managementsystem comprises enhanced capabilities for automatically discoveringoperational characteristics of data storage devices installed in thesystem—operational characteristics that are relevant to analyzing andresponding to storage requests submitted by end-users. The systemprovides a user interface that enables end-users to request storageresources ranging from a simple request for a certain amount of storagespace to more complex requests that specify details such as the type ofstorage technology, the manufacturer, the I/O speed of the storagedevice, etc. The system identifies storage devices that are suitable tothe end-user's request and automatically provisions the storage space(e.g., LUN) and assigns it to the requestor. The end-user may activate a“map” operation that enables the storage space to be accessed by one ormore client computing devices; the end-user may ultimately end theassignment for example by activating “unmap” operation(s).

The assigned storage space may automatically expire, based onend-user-requested or system-provided expiration timeframes. Expiredstorage space is returned to a logical pool of available resources sothat it may be assigned in response to other requests. The systemcomprises special-purpose information management policies that governwhich data storage devices may be assigned to which end-users and/orcomputing devices and under what conditions, e.g., organizing therelationships by geography, department, technology, cost profile, etc.

The illustrative data storage management system comprises an enhancedstorage manager that manages the system as a whole as well as initiatesauto-discovery of installed storage devices and processes end-userrequests for storage space. The enhanced storage manager also importsstorage information from pre-existing in-use data storage devices sothat they may also be covered by appropriate information managementpolicies according to the illustrative embodiment. When an end-userrequest is being processed, an enhanced media agent component receivesprovisioning instructions from the enhanced storage manager andimplements the instructions by communicating with individual datastorage devices to set up the appropriate configurations and/or to tearthem down. The illustrative system, accompanying methods, and associatedcomputer-readable media are described in further detail herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary informationmanagement system.

FIG. 1B is a detailed view of a primary storage device, a secondarystorage device, and some examples of primary data and secondary copydata.

FIG. 1C is a block diagram of an exemplary information management systemincluding a storage manager, one or more data agents, and one or moremedia agents.

FIG. 1D is a block diagram illustrating a scalable informationmanagement system.

FIG. 1E illustrates certain secondary copy operations according to anexemplary storage policy.

FIGS. 1F-1H are block diagrams illustrating suitable data structuresthat may be employed by the information management system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating some salient portions of a datastorage management system 200 for automated intelligent provisioning ofdata storage resources in response to end-user requests, according to anillustrative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 depicts some salient operations of a method 300 operating insystem 200 according to an illustrative embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 depicts some salient operations of a method 400 operating insystem 200 according to an illustrative embodiment of the presentinvention,

FIG. 5 depicts some salient operations of a method 500 operating insystem 200 according to an illustrative embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Detailed descriptions and examples of systems and methods according toone or more illustrative embodiments of the present invention may befound in the section entitled AUTOMATED INTELLIGENT PROVISIONING OF DATASTORAGE RESOURCES IN RESPONSE TO USER REQUESTS, as well as in thesection entitled Example Embodiments, and also in FIGS. 2-5 herein.Furthermore, components and functionality for automated intelligentprovisioning of data storage resources may be configured and/orincorporated into information management systems such as those describedherein in FIGS. 1A-1H.

Various embodiments described herein are intimately tied to, enabled by,and would not exist except for, computer technology. For example,automated discovery of operational characteristics of installed datastorage devices as well as processing of end-user requests for datastorage resources described herein in reference to various embodimentscannot reasonably be performed by humans alone, without the computertechnology upon which they are implemented.

Information Management System Overview

With the increasing importance of protecting and leveraging data,organizations simply cannot risk losing critical data. Moreover, runawaydata growth and other modern realities make protecting and managing dataincreasingly difficult. There is therefore a need for efficient,powerful, and user-friendly solutions for protecting and managing data.Depending on the size of the organization, there may be many dataproduction sources which are under the purview of tens, hundreds, oreven thousands of individuals. In the past, individuals were sometimesresponsible for managing and protecting their own data, and a patchworkof hardware and software point solutions may have been used in any givenorganization. These solutions were often provided by different vendorsand had limited or no interoperability. Certain embodiments describedherein address these and other shortcomings of prior approaches byimplementing scalable, unified, organization-wide informationmanagement, including data storage management.

FIG. 1A shows one such information management system 100 (or “system100”), which generally includes combinations of hardware and softwareconfigured to protect and manage data and metadata that are generatedand used by computing devices in system 100. System 100 may be referredto in some embodiments as a “storage management system” and theoperations it performs may be referred to as “information managementoperations” or “storage operations” in some circumstances. Theorganization that employs system 100 may be a corporation or otherbusiness entity, non-profit organization, educational institution,household, governmental agency, or the like.

Generally, the systems and associated components described herein may becompatible with and/or provide some or all of the functionality of thesystems and corresponding components described in one or more of thefollowing U.S. patents and patent application publications assigned toCommvault Systems, Inc., each of which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety herein:

-   -   U.S. Pat. No. 7,035,880, entitled “Modular Backup and Retrieval        System Used in Conjunction With a Storage Area Network”;    -   U.S. Pat. No. 7,107,298, entitled “System And Method For        Archiving Objects In An Information Store”;    -   U.S. Pat. No. 7,246,207, entitled “System and Method for        Dynamically Performing Storage Operations in a Computer        Network”;    -   U.S. Pat. No. 7,315,923, entitled “System And Method For        Combining Data Streams In Pipelined Storage Operations In A        Storage Network”;    -   U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,453, entitled “Hierarchical Systems and        Methods for Providing a Unified View of Storage Information”;    -   U.S. Pat. No. 7,395,282, entitled “Hierarchical Backup and        Retrieval System”;    -   U.S. Pat. No. 7,529,782, entitled “System and Methods for        Performing a Snapshot and for Restoring Data”;    -   U.S. Pat. No. 7,617,262, entitled “System and Methods for        Monitoring Application Data in a Data Replication System”;    -   U.S. Pat. No. 7,734,669, entitled “Managing Copies Of Data”;    -   U.S. Pat. No. 7,747,579, entitled “Metabase for Facilitating        Data Classification”;    -   U.S. Pat. No. 8,156,086, entitled “Systems And Methods For        Stored Data Verification”;    -   U.S. Pat. No. 8,170,995, entitled “Method and System for Offline        Indexing of Content and Classifying Stored Data”;    -   U.S. Pat. No. 8,230,195, entitled “System And Method For        Performing Auxiliary Storage Operations”;    -   U.S. Pat. No. 8,285,681, entitled “Data Object Store and Server        for a Cloud Storage Environment, Including Data Deduplication        and Data Management Across Multiple Cloud Storage Sites”;    -   U.S. Pat. No. 8,307,177, entitled “Systems And Methods For        Management Of Virtualization Data”;    -   U.S. Pat. No. 8,364,652, entitled “Content-Aligned, Block-Based        Deduplication”;    -   U.S. Pat. No. 8,578,120, entitled “Block-Level Single        Instancing”;    -   U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2006/0224846, entitled “System and Method to        Support Single Instance Storage Operations”;    -   U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2009/0319534, entitled “Application-Aware and        Remote Single Instance Data Management”;    -   U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2012/0150818, entitled “Client-Side        Repository in a Networked Deduplicated Storage System”; and    -   U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2012/0150826, entitled “Distributed        Deduplicated Storage System”.

Information management system 100 can include a variety of computingdevices and computing technologies. For instance, system 100 can includeone or more client computing devices 102 and secondary storage computingdevices 106, as well as storage manager 140 or a host computing devicefor it. Computing devices can include, without limitation, one or more:workstations, personal computers, desktop computers, or other types ofgenerally fixed computing systems such as mainframe computers, servers,and minicomputers. Other computing devices can include mobile orportable computing devices, such as one or more laptops, tabletcomputers, personal data assistants, mobile phones (such assmartphones), and other mobile or portable computing devices such asembedded computers, set top boxes, vehicle-mounted devices, wearablecomputers, etc. Servers can include mail servers, file servers, databaseservers, and web servers. Computing devices may comprise one or moreprocessors (e.g., CPU and/or single-core or multi-core processors), aswell as non-transitory computer-readable memory (e.g., random-accessmemory (RAM)) for storing computer programs to be executed by the one ormore processors. Other computer-readable memory for mass storage of datamay be packaged/configured with the computing device (e.g., an internalhard disk) and/or may be external and accessible by the computing device(e.g., network-attached storage).

In some cases, a computing device includes cloud computing resources,which may be virtual machines. For instance, one or more virtualmachines may be provided to the organization by a third-party cloudservice vendor. In some embodiments, computing devices can include oneor more virtual machine(s) running on a physical host computing device(or “host machine”) operated by the organization. As one example, theorganization may use one virtual machine as a database server andanother virtual machine as a mail server, both virtual machinesoperating on the same host machine,

A virtual machine includes an operating system and associated virtualresources, and is hosted simultaneously with another operating system ona physical host computer (or host machine). A hypervisor (typicallysoftware, and also known in the art as a virtual machine monitor or avirtual machine manager or “VMM”) sits between the virtual machine andthe hardware of the physical host machine. Examples of hypervisors asvirtualization software include ESX Server, by VMware, Inc. of PaloAlto, Calif.; Microsoft Virtual Server and Microsoft Windows ServerHyper-V, both by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.; and Sun xVM byOracle America Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif. In some embodiments, thehypervisor may be firmware or hardware or a combination of softwareand/or firmware and/or hardware. The hypervisor provides resources toeach virtual operating system such as a virtual processor, virtualmemory, a virtual network device, and a virtual disk. Each virtualmachine has one or more virtual disks. The hypervisor typically storesthe data of virtual disks in files on the file system of the physicalhost machine, called virtual machine disk files (in VMware lingo) orvirtual hard disk image files (in Microsoft lingo). For example,VMware's ESX Server provides the Virtual Machine File System (VMFS) forthe storage of virtual machine disk files. A virtual machine reads datafrom and writes data to its virtual disk much the e way that a physicalmachine reads data from and writes data to a physical disk. Examples oftechniques for implementing information management in a cloud computingenvironment are described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,285,681. Examples oftechniques for implementing information management in a virtualizedcomputing environment are described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,307,177.

Information management system 100 can also include a variety ofelectronic data storage devices, generally used for mass storage ofdata, including, e.g., primary storage devices 104 and secondary storagedevices 108. Storage devices can generally be of any suitable typeincluding, without limitation, disk drives, storage arrays (e.g.,storage-area network (SAN) and/or network-attached storage (NAS)technology), semiconductor memory (e.g., solid state storage devices),network attached storage (NAS) devices, tape libraries or othermagnetic, non-tape storage devices, optical media storage devices,DNA/RNA-based memory technology, combinations of the same, etc. In someembodiments, storage devices can form part of a distributed file system.In some cases, storage devices are provided in a cloud storageenvironment (e.g., a private cloud or one operated by a third-partyvendor), whether for primary data or secondary copies or both.

Depending on context, the term “information management system” can referto generally all of the illustrated hardware and software components inFIG. 1C, or the term may refer to only a subset of the illustratedcomponents. For instance, in some cases, system 100 generally refers toa combination of specialized components used to protect, move, manage,manipulate, analyze, and/or process data and metadata generated byclient computing devices 102. However, system 100 in some cases does notinclude the underlying components that generate and/or store primarydata 112, such as the client computing devices 102 themselves, and theprimary storage devices 104. Likewise secondary storage devices 108(e.g., a third-party provided cloud storage environment) may not be partof system 100. As an example, “information management system” maysometimes refer to one or more of the following components, which willbe described in further detail below: storage manager, data agent, andmedia agent.

Information management system 100 includes one or more client computingdevices 102 having an operating system and at least one application 110executing thereon; and one or more primary storage devices 104 storingprimary data 112. Client computing device(s) 102 and primary storagedevices 104 may generally be referred to in some cases as primarystorage subsystem 117.

Client Computing Devices, Clients, and Subclients

Typically, a variety of sources in an organization produce data to beprotected and managed. As just one illustrative example, in a corporateenvironment such data sources can be employee workstations and companyservers such as a mail server, a web server, a database server, atransaction server, or the like. In system 100, data generation sourcesinclude one or more client computing devices 102. A computing devicethat has a data agent 142 installed and operating on it is generallyreferred to as a “client computing device” 102, and may include any typeof computing device, without limitation. A client computing device 102may be associated with one or more users and/or user accounts.

A “client” is a logical component of information management system 100,which may represent a logical grouping of one or more agents installedon a client computing device 102. Storage manager 140 recognizes aclient as a component of system 100, and in some embodiments, mayautomatically create a client component the first time a data agent 142is installed on a client computing device 102. Because data generated byexecutable component(s) 110 is tracked by the associated data agent 142so that it may be properly protected in system 100, a client may be saidto generate data and to store the generated data to primary storage,such as primary storage device 104. However, the terms “client” and“client computing device” as used herein do not imply that a clientcomputing device 102 is necessarily configured in the client/serversense relative to another computing device such as a mail server, orthat a client computing device 102 cannot be a server in its own right.As just a few examples, a client computing device 102 can be and/orinclude mail servers, file servers, database servers, and web servers.

Each client computing device 102 may have application(s) 110 executingthereon which generate and manipulate the data that is to be protectedfrom loss and managed in system 100. Applications 110 generallyfacilitate the operations of an organization, and can include, withoutlimitation, mail server applications (e.g., Microsoft Exchange Server),file server applications, mail client applications (e.g., MicrosoftExchange Client), database applications or database management systems(e.g., SQL, Oracle, SAP, Lotus Notes Database), word processingapplications (e.g., Microsoft Word), spreadsheet applications, financialapplications, presentation applications, graphics and/or videoapplications, browser applications, mobile applications, entertainmentapplications, and so on. Each application 110 may be accompanied by anapplication-specific data agent 142. A file system, e.g., MicrosoftWindows Explorer, may be considered an application 110 and may beaccompanied by its own data agent 142. Client computing devices 102 canhave at least one operating system (e.g., Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X,iOS, IBM z/OS, Linux, other Unix-based operating systems, etc.)installed thereon, which may support or host one or more file systemsand other applications 110. In some embodiments, a virtual machine thatexecutes on a host client computing device 102 may be considered anapplication 110 and may be accompanied by a specific data agent 142(e.g., virtual server data agent).

Client computing devices 102 and other components in system 100 can beconnected to one another via one or more electronic communicationpathways 114. For example, a first communication pathway 114 maycommunicatively couple client computing device 102 and secondary storagecomputing device 106; a second communication pathway 114 maycommunicatively couple storage manager 140 and client computing device102; and a third communication pathway 114 may communicatively couplestorage manager 140 and secondary storage computing device 106, etc.(see, e.g., FIG. 1A and FIG. 1C). A communication pathway 114 caninclude one or more networks or other connection types including one ormore of the following, without limitation: the Internet, a wide areanetwork (WAN), a local area network (LAN), a Storage Area Network (SAN),a Fibre Channel (FC) connection, a Small Computer System Interface(SCSI) connection, a virtual private network (VPN), a token ring orTCP/IP based network, an intranet network, a point-to-point link, acellular network, a wireless data transmission system, a two-way cablesystem, an interactive kiosk network, a satellite network, a broadbandnetwork, a baseband network, a neural network, a mesh network, an ad hocnetwork, other appropriate computer or telecommunications networks,combinations of the same or the like. Communication pathways 114 in somecases may also include application programming interfaces (APIs)including, e.g., cloud service provider APIs, virtual machine managementAPIs, and hosted service provider APIs. The underlying infrastructure ofcommunication pathways 114 may be wired and/or wireless, analog and/ordigital, or any combination thereof; and the facilities used may beprivate, public, third-party provided, or any combination thereof,without limitation.

A “subclient” is a logical grouping of all or part of a client's primarydata 112. In general a subclient may be defined according to how thesubclient data is to be protected as a unit in system 100. For example,a subclient may be associated with a certain storage policy. A givenclient may thus comprise several subclients, each subclient associatedwith a different storage policy. For example, some files may form afirst subclient that requires compression and deduplication and isassociated with a first storage policy. Other files of the client mayform a second subclient that requires a different retention schedule aswell as encryption, and may be associated with a different, secondstorage policy. As a result, though the primary data may be generated bythe same application 110, and may belong to one given client, portionsof the data may be assigned to different subclients for distincttreatment by the information management system. More detail onsubclients is given in regard to storage policies below.

Primary Data and Exemplary Primary Storage Devices

Primary data 112 is generally production data or other “live” datagenerated by the operating system and/or applications 110 executing onclient computing device 102. Primary data 112 is generally stored onprimary storage device(s) 104 and is organized via a file systemoperating on the client computing device 102. Thus, client computingdevice(s) 102 and corresponding applications 110 may create, access,modify, write, delete, and otherwise use primary data 112. Primary data112 is generally in the native format of the source application 110.According to certain aspects, primary data 112 is an initial or firststored body of data generated by the source application 110. Primarydata 112 in some cases is created substantially directly from datagenerated by the corresponding source application 110.

Primary storage devices 104 storing primary data 112 may be relativelyfast and/or expensive technology (e.g., a disk drive, a hard-diskstorage array, solid state memory, etc.), typically because they mustsupport high-performance live production environments. Primary data 112may be highly changeable and/or may be intended for relatively shortterm retention (e.g., hours, days, or weeks). According to someembodiments, client computing device 102 can access primary data 112stored in primary storage device 104 by making conventional file systemcalls via the operating system. Primary data 112 may include structureddata (e.g., database files), unstructured data (e.g., documents), and/orsemi-structured data. See, e.g., FIG. 1B.

It can be useful in performing certain tasks to organize primary data112 into units of different granularities. In general, primary data 112can include files, directories, file system volumes, data blocks,extents, or any other hierarchies or organizations of data objects. Asused herein, a “data object” can refer to (i) any file that is currentlyaddressable by a file system or that was previously addressable by thefile system (e.g., an archive file), and (ii) a subset of such a file(e.g., a data block, an extent, etc.).

It can also be useful in performing certain functions of system 100 toaccess and modify metadata within primary data 112. Metadata generallyincludes information about data objects and/or characteristicsassociated with the data objects. For simplicity herein, it is to beunderstood that, unless expressly stated otherwise, any reference toprimary data 112 generally also includes its associated metadata, butreferences to metadata generally do not include the primary data.Metadata can include, without limitation, one or more of the following:the data owner (e.g., the client or user that generates the data), thelast modified time (e.g., the time of the most recent modification ofthe data object), a data object name (e.g., a file name), a data objectsize (e.g., a number of bytes of data), information about the content(e.g., an indication as to the existence of a particular search term),user-supplied tags, to/from information for email (e.g., an emailsender, recipient, etc.), creation date, file type (e.g., format orapplication type), last accessed time, application type (e.g., type ofapplication that generated the data object), location/network (e.g., acurrent, past or future location of the data object and network pathwaysto/from the data object), geographic location (e.g., GPS coordinates),frequency of change (e.g., a period in which the data object ismodified), business unit (e.g., a group or department that generates,manages or is otherwise associated with the data object), aginginformation (e.g., a schedule, such as a time period, in which the dataobject is migrated to secondary or long term storage), boot sectors,partition layouts, file location within a file folder directorystructure, user permissions, owners, groups, access control lists(ACLs), system metadata (e.g., registry information), combinations ofthe same or other similar information related to the data object. Inaddition to metadata generated by or related to file systems andoperating systems, some applications 110 and/or other components ofsystem 100 maintain indices of metadata for data objects, e.g., metadataassociated with individual email messages. The use of metadata toperform classification and other functions is described in greaterdetail below.

Each client computing device 102 is generally associated with and/or incommunication with one or more primary storage devices 104 storingcorresponding primary data 112. A client computing device 102 may beconsidered to be associated with or in communication with a primarystorage device 104 if it is capable of one or more of: routing and/orstoring data (e.g., primary data 112) to the particular primary storagedevice 104, coordinating the routing and/or storing of data to theparticular primary storage device 104, retrieving data from theparticular primary storage device 104, coordinating the retrieval ofdata from the particular primary storage device 104, and modifyingand/or deleting data in the particular primary storage device 104. Aclient computing device 102 may be said to access data stored in anassociated storage device 104.

Primary storage device 104 may be dedicated or shared. In some cases,each primary storage device 104 is dedicated to an associated clientcomputing device 102, e.g., a local disk drive. In other cases, one ormore primary storage devices 104 can be shared by multiple clientcomputing devices 102, e.g., via a local network, in a cloud storageimplementation, etc. As one example, primary storage device 104 can be astorage array shared by a group of client computing devices 102, such asEMC Clariion, EMC Symmetrix, EMC Celerra, Dell EqualLogic, IBM XIV,NetApp FAS, HP EVA, and HP 3PAR.

Information management system 100 may also include hosted services (notshown), which may be hosted in some cases by an entity other than theorganization that employs the other components of system 100. Forinstance, the hosted services may be provided by online serviceproviders. Such service providers can provide social networkingservices, hosted email services, or hosted productivity applications orother hosted applications such as software-as-a-service (SaaS),platform-as-a-service (PaaS), application service providers (ASPs),cloud services, or other mechanisms for delivering functionality via anetwork. As it services users, each hosted service may generateadditional data and metadata, which may be managed by system 100, e.g.,as primary data 112. In some cases, the hosted services may be accessedusing one of the applications 110. As an example, a hosted mail servicemay be accessed via browser running on a client computing device 102.

Secondary Copies and Exemplary Secondary Storage Devices

Primary data 112 stored on primary storage devices 104 may becompromised in some cases, such as when an employee deliberately oraccidentally deletes or overwrites primary data 112. Or primary storagedevices 104 can be damaged, lost, or otherwise corrupted. For recoveryand/or regulatory compliance purposes, it is therefore useful togenerate and maintain copies of primary data 112. Accordingly, system100 includes one or more secondary storage computing devices 106 and oneor more secondary storage devices 108 configured to create and store oneor more secondary copies 116 of primary data 112 including itsassociated metadata. The secondary storage computing devices 106 and thesecondary storage devices 108 may be referred to as secondary storagesubsystem 118.

Creation of secondary copies 116 can help in search and analysis effortsand meet other information management goals as well, such as: restoringdata and/or metadata if an original version is lost (e.g., by deletion,corruption, or disaster); allowing point-in-time recovery; complyingwith regulatory data retention and electronic discovery (e-discovery)requirements; reducing utilized storage capacity in the productionsystem and/or in secondary storage; facilitating organization and searchof data; improving user access to data files across multiple computingdevices and/or hosted services; and implementing data retentionpolicies.

A secondary copy 116 can comprise a separate stored copy of data that isderived from one or more earlier-created stored copies (e.g., derivedfrom primary data 112 or from another secondary copy 116). Secondarycopies 116 can include point-in-time data, and may be intended forrelatively long-term retention, before some or all of the data is movedto other storage or discarded. In some cases, a secondary copy 116 maybe in a different storage device than other previously stored copies;and/or may be remote from other previously stored copies. Secondarycopies 116 can be stored in the same storage device as primary data 112.For example, a disk array capable of performing hardware snapshotsstores primary data 112 and creates and stores hardware snapshots of theprimary data 112 as secondary copies 116. Secondary copies 116 may bestored in relatively slow and/or lower cost storage (e.g., magnetictape). A secondary copy 116 may be stored in a backup or archive format,or in some other format different from the native source applicationformat or other format of primary data 112.

Secondary storage computing devices 106 may index secondary copies 116(e.g., using a media agent 144), so that users can browse and restore ata later time. After creation of a secondary copy 116 representative ofcertain primary data 112, a pointer or other location indicia (e.g., astub) may be placed in primary data 112, or be otherwise associated withprimary data 112, to indicate the current location on secondary storagedevice(s) 108 of a particular secondary copy 116.

Since an instance of a data object or metadata in primary data 112 maychange over time as it is modified by application 110 (or hosted serviceor the operating system), system 100 may create and manage multiplesecondary copies 116 of a particular data object or metadata, each copyrepresenting the state of the data object in primary data 112 at aparticular point in time. Moreover, since an instance of a data objectin primary data 112 may eventually be deleted from primary storagedevice 104 and the file system, system 100 may continue to managepoint-in-time representations of that data object, even though theinstance in primary data 112 no longer exists.

For virtual machines, the operating system and other applications 110 ofclient computing device(s) 102 may execute within or under themanagement of virtualization software (e.g., a VMM), and the primarystorage device(s) 104 may comprise a virtual disk created on a physicalstorage device. System 100 may create secondary copies 116 of the filesor other data objects in a virtual disk file and/or secondary copies 116of the entire virtual disk file itself (e.g., of an entire .vmdk file).

Secondary copies 116 may be distinguished from corresponding primarydata 112. First, secondary copies 116 can be stored in a differentformat (e.g., backup, archive, or other non-native format) than primarydata 112. For this or other reasons, secondary copies 116 may not bedirectly useable by applications 110 or client computing device 102(e.g., via standard system calls or otherwise) without modification,processing, or other intervention by system 100 which may be referred toas “restore” operations. Secondary copies 116 may have been processed bydata agent 142 and/or media agent 144 in the course of being created(e.g., compression, deduplication, encryption, integrity markers,indexing, formatting, etc.), and thus secondary copy 116 may representsource primary data 112 without necessarily being exactly identical tothe source.

Second, secondary copies 116 may be stored on a secondary storage device108 that is inaccessible to application 110 running on client computingdevice 102 and/or hosted service. Some secondary copies 116 may be“offline copies,” in that they are not readily available (e.g., notmounted to tape or disk). Offline copies can include copies of data thatsystem 100 can access without human intervention (e.g., tapes within anautomated tape library, but not yet mounted in a drive), and copies thatthe system 100 can access only with some human intervention (e.g., tapeslocated at an offsite storage site).

Using Intermediate Devices for Creating Secondary Copies—SecondaryStorage Computing Devices

Creating secondary copies can be challenging. For instance, hundreds orthousands of client computing devices 102 may be continually generatinglarge volumes of primary data 112 to be protected. Also, there can besignificant overhead involved in the creation of secondary copies 116.Moreover, secondary storage devices 108 may be special-purposecomponents, and devices that write to, read from, or otherwise interactwith secondary storage devices 108, such as secondary storage computingdevices 106 and corresponding media agents 144, may require specializedprogrammed intelligence and/or hardware capability. Client computingdevices 102 may interact directly with a secondary storage device 108 tocreate secondary copies 116; however, in view of the factors describedabove, this approach can negatively impact the ability of clientcomputing device 102 to serve/service application 110 and produceprimary data 112. Further, any given client computing device 102 may notbe optimized for interaction with certain secondary storage devices 108.

Thus, information management system 100 may include one or more softwareand/or hardware components which generally act as intermediaries betweenclient computing devices 102 (that generate primary data 112) andsecondary storage devices 108 (that store secondary copies 116). Inaddition to off-loading certain responsibilities from client computingdevices 102, these intermediate components can provide other benefits.For instance, as discussed further below with respect to FIG. 1D,distributing some of the work involved in creating secondary copies 116can enhance scalability and improve system performance. For instance,using specialized secondary storage computing devices 106 and mediaagents 144 for interfacing with secondary storage devices 108 and/or forperforming certain data processing operations can greatly improve thespeed with which system 100 performs information management operationsand can also improve the capacity of the system to handle large numbersof such operations, while reducing the computational load on theproduction environment of client computing devices 102. The intermediatecomponents can include one or more secondary storage computing devices106 as shown in FIG. 1A and/or one or more media agents 144. Mediaagents are discussed further below (e.g., with respect to FIGS. 1C-1E),

Secondary storage computing device(s) 106 can comprise any of thecomputing devices described above, without limitation. In some cases,secondary storage computing device(s) 106 also include specializedhardware and/or software componentry for interacting with certainsecondary storage device(s) 108 with which they may be speciallyassociated.

To create a secondary copy 116 involving the copying of data fromprimary storage subsystem 117 to secondary storage subsystem 118, clientcomputing device 102 may communicate the primary data 112 to be copied(or a processed version thereof) to the designated secondary storagecomputing device 106, via a communication pathway 114. Secondary storagecomputing device 106 in turn may perform further processing and mayconvey the data (or a processed version thereof) to secondary storagedevice 108. One or more secondary copies 116 may be created fromexisting secondary copies 116, such as in the case of an auxiliary copyoperation, described further below.

Exemplary Primary Data and an Exemplary Secondary Copy

FIG. 1B is a detailed view showing some specific examples of primarydata stored on primary storage device(s) 104 and secondary copy datastored on secondary storage device(s) 108, with other components of thesystem removed for the purposes of illustration. Stored on the primarystorage device(s) 104 are primary data 112 objects including wordprocessing documents 119A-B, spreadsheets 120, presentation documents122, video files 124, image files 126, email mailboxes 128 (andcorresponding email messages 129A-C), html/xml or other types of markuplanguage files 130, databases 132 and corresponding tables or other datastructures 133A-133C). Some or all primary data 112 objects areassociated with corresponding metadata (e.g., “Meta1-11”), which mayinclude file system metadata and/or application-specific metadata.Stored on the secondary storage device(s) 108 are secondary copy 116data objects 134A-C which may include copies of or may otherwiserepresent corresponding primary data 112,

Secondary copy data objects 134A-C can individually represent more thanone primary data object. For example, secondary copy data object 134Arepresents three separate primary data objects 133C, 122, and 129C(represented as 133C′, 122′, and 129C′, respectively, and accompanied bycorresponding metadata Meta11, Meta3, and Meta8, respectively).Moreover, as indicated by the prime mark (′), secondary storagecomputing devices 106 or other components in secondary storage subsystem118 may process the data received from primary storage subsystem 117 andstore a secondary copy including a transformed and/or supplementedrepresentation of a primary data object and/or metadata that isdifferent from the original format, e.g., in a compressed, encrypted,deduplicated, or other modified format. For instance, secondary storagecomputing devices 106 can generate new metadata or other informationbased on said processing, and store the newly generated informationalong with the secondary copies. Secondary copy data object 1346represents primary data objects 120, 133B, and 119A as 120′, 133B′, and119A′, respectively, accompanied by corresponding metadata Meta2,Meta10, and Meta1, respectively. Also, secondary copy data object 134Crepresents primary data objects 133A, 119B, and 129A as 133A′, 119B′,and 129A′, respectively, accompanied by corresponding metadata Meta9,Meta5, and Meta6, respectively.

Exemplary Information Management System Architecture

Information management system 100 can incorporate a variety of differenthardware and software components, which can in turn be organized withrespect to one another in many different configurations, depending onthe embodiment. There are critical design choices involved in specifyingthe functional responsibilities of the components and the role of eachcomponent in system 100. Such design choices can impact performance aswell as the adaptability of system 100 to data growth and other changingcircumstances.

FIG. 1C shows an information management system 100 designed according tothese considerations and which includes: storage manager 140, one ormore data agents 142 executing on client computing device(s) 102 andconfigured to process primary data 112, and one or more media agents 144executing on the one or more secondary storage computing devices 106 forperforming tasks involving the secondary storage devices 108.

Storage Manager

Storage manager 140 is a centralized storage and/or information managerthat is configured to perform certain control functions and also tostore certain critical information about system 100. As noted, thenumber of components in system 100 and the amount of data undermanagement can be large. Managing the components and data is therefore asignificant task, which can grow unpredictably as the number ofcomponents and data scale to meet the needs of the organization. Forthese and other reasons, according to certain embodiments,responsibility for controlling system 100, or at least a significantportion of that responsibility, is allocated to storage manager 140.Storage manager 140 can be adapted independently according to changingcircumstances, without having to replace or re-design the remainder ofthe system. Moreover, a computing device for hosting and/or operating asstorage manager 140 can be selected to best suit the functions andnetworking needs of storage manager 140. These and other advantages aredescribed in further detail below and with respect to FIG. 1D.

Storage manager 140 may be a software module or other application,which, in some embodiments operates in conjunction with one or moreassociated data structures such as a dedicated database (e.g.,management database 146). In some embodiments, storage manager 140 isitself a computing device that performs the functions described herein.The storage manager generally initiates, performs, coordinates and/orcontrols storage and other information management operations performedby the system 100, e.g., to protect and control primary data 112 andsecondary copies 116. In general, storage manager 100 may be said tomanage information management system 100, which includes managingconstituent components such as data agents and media agents, etc.

As shown by the dashed arrowed lines 114 in FIG. 1C, storage manager 140may communicate with and/or control some or all elements of theinformation management system 100, such as data agents 142 and mediaagents 144. In this manner, storage manager 140 may control theoperation of various hardware and software components in system 100. Incertain embodiments, control information originates from storage manager140 and status as well as index reporting is transmitted to storagemanager 140 by the managed components, whereas payload data and metadataare generally communicated between data agents 142 and media agents 144(or otherwise between client computing device(s) 102 and secondarystorage computing device(s) 106), e.g., at the direction of and underthe management of storage manager 140. Control information can generallyinclude parameters and instructions for carrying out informationmanagement operations, such as, without limitation, instructions toperform a task associated with an operation, timing informationspecifying when to initiate a task, data path information specifyingwhat components to communicate with or access in carrying out anoperation, and the like. In other embodiments, some informationmanagement operations are controlled or initiated by other components ofsystem 100 (e.g., by media agents 144 or data agents 142), instead of orin combination with storage manager 140.

According to certain embodiments, storage manager 140 provides one ormore of the following functions:

-   -   communicating with data agents 142 and media agents 144,        including transmitting instructions, messages, and/or queries,        as well as receiving status reports, index information,        messages, and/or queries, and responding to same;    -   initiating execution of information management operations;    -   initiating restore and recovery operations;    -   managing secondary storage devices 108 and inventory/capacity of        the same;    -   allocating secondary storage devices 108 for secondary copy        operations;    -   reporting, searching, and/or classification of data in system        100;    -   monitoring completion of and status reporting related to        information management operations and jobs;    -   tracking movement of data within system 100;    -   tracking age information relating to secondary copies 116,        secondary storage devices 108, comparing the age information        against retention guidelines, and initiating data pruning when        appropriate;    -   tracking logical associations between components in system 100;    -   protecting metadata associated with system 100, e.g., in        management database 146;    -   implementing job management, schedule management, event        management, alert management, reporting, job history        maintenance, user security management, disaster recovery        management, and/or user interfacing for system administrators        and/or end users of system 100;    -   sending, searching, and/or viewing of log files; and    -   implementing operations management functionality,

Storage manager 140 may maintain an associated database 146 (or “storagemanager database 146” or “management database 146”) ofmanagement-related data and information management policies 148.Database 146 can be stored in computer memory accessible by storagemanager 140. Database 146 may include a management index 150 (or “index150”) or other data structure(s) that may store: logical associationsbetween components of the system; user preferences and/or profiles(e.g., preferences regarding encryption, compression, or deduplicationof primary data or secondary copies; preferences regarding thescheduling, type, or other aspects of secondary copy or otheroperations; mappings of particular information management users or useraccounts to certain computing devices or other components, etc.;management tasks; media containerization; or other useful data. Forexample, storage manager 140 may use index 150 to track logicalassociations between media agents 144 and secondary storage devices 108and/or movement of data from primary storage devices 104 to secondarystorage devices 108. For instance, index 150 may store data associatinga client computing device 102 with a particular media agent 144 and/orsecondary storage device 108, as specified in an information managementpolicy 148.

Administrators and others may configure and initiate certain informationmanagement operations on an individual basis. But while this may beacceptable for some recovery operations or other infrequent tasks, it isoften not workable for implementing on-going organization-wide dataprotection and management. Thus, system 100 may utilize informationmanagement policies 148 for specifying and executing informationmanagement operations on an automated basis. Generally, an informationmanagement policy 148 can include a stored data structure or otherinformation source that specifies parameters (e.g., criteria and rules)associated with storage management or other information managementoperations. Storage manager 140 can process an information managementpolicy 148 and/or index 150 and, based on the results, identify aninformation management operation to perform, identify the appropriatecomponents in system 100 to be involved in the operation (e.g., clientcomputing devices 102 and corresponding data agents 142, secondarystorage computing devices 106 and corresponding media agents 144, etc.),establish connections to those components and/or between thosecomponents, and/or instruct and control those components to carry outthe operation. In this manner, system 100 can translate storedinformation into coordinated activity among the various computingdevices in system 100.

Management database 146 may maintain information management policies 148and associated data, although information management policies 148 can bestored in computer memory at any appropriate location outside managementdatabase 146. For instance, an information management policy 148 such asa storage policy may be stored as metadata in a media agent database 152or in a secondary storage device 108 (e.g., as an archive copy) for usein restore or other information management operations, depending on theembodiment. Information management policies 148 are described furtherbelow. According to certain embodiments, management database 146comprises a relational database (e.g., an SQL database) for trackingmetadata, such as metadata associated with secondary copy operations(e.g., what client computing devices 102 and corresponding subclientdata were protected and where the secondary copies are stored and whichmedia agent 144 performed the secondary storage). This and othermetadata may additionally be stored in other locations, such as atsecondary storage computing device 106 or on the secondary storagedevice 108, allowing data recovery without the use of storage manager140 in some cases. Thus, management database 146 may comprise dataneeded to kick off secondary copy operations (e.g., storage policies),status and reporting information about completed jobs (e.g., status onyesterday's backup jobs), and additional information sufficient toenable restore and disaster recovery operations (e.g., media agentassociations, location indexing, content indexing, etc.)

Storage manager 140 may include a jobs agent 156, a user interface 158,and a management agent 154, all of which may be implemented asinterconnected software modules or application programs. These aredescribed further below.

Jobs agent 156 in some embodiments initiates, controls, and/or monitorsthe status of some or all information management operations previouslyperformed, currently being performed, or scheduled to be performed bysystem 100. A job may be a logical grouping of information managementoperations such as generating backup copies of a primary data 112subclient at a certain time every day. Thus, jobs agent 156 may accessinformation management policies 148 (e.g., in management database 146)to determine when and how to initiate/control jobs in system 100.

Storage Manager User Interfaces

User interface 158 may include information processing and displaysoftware, such as a graphical user interface (GUI), an applicationprogram interface (API), and/or other interactive interface(s) throughwhich users and system processes can retrieve information about thestatus of information management operations or issue instructions tosystem 100 and/or its constituent components. Via user interface 158,users may issue instructions to the components in system 100 regardingperformance of secondary copy and recovery operations. For example, auser may modify a schedule concerning the number of pending secondarycopy operations. As another example, a user may employ the GUI to viewthe status of pending secondary copy jobs or to monitor the status ofcertain components in system 100 (e.g., the amount of capacity left in astorage device). Storage manager 140 may track information that permitsit to select, designate, or otherwise identify content indices,deduplication databases, or similar databases or resources or data setswithin its information management cell (or another cell) to be searchedin response to certain queries. Such queries may be entered by the userby interacting with user interface 158.

Various embodiments of information management system 100 may beconfigured and/or designed to generate user interface data useable forrendering the various interactive user interfaces described. The userinterface data may be used by system 100 and/or by another system,device, and/or software program (for example, a browser program), torender the interactive user interfaces. The interactive user interfacesmay be displayed on, for example, electronic displays (including, forexample, touch-enabled displays), consoles, etc., whetherdirect-connected to storage manager 140 or communicatively coupledremotely, e.g., via an internet connection. The present disclosuredescribes various embodiments of interactive and dynamic userinterfaces, some of which may be generated by user interface agent 158,and which are the result of significant technological development. Theuser interfaces described herein may provide improved human-computerinteractions, allowing for significant cognitive and ergonomicefficiencies and advantages over previous systems, including reducedmental workloads, improved decision-making, and the like. User interface158 may operate in a single integrated view or console (not shown). Theconsole may support a reporting capability for generating a variety ofreports, which may be tailored to a particular aspect of informationmanagement.

User interfaces are not exclusive to storage manager 140 and in someembodiments a user may access information locally from a computingdevice component of system 100. For example, some information pertainingto installed data agents 142 and associated data streams may beavailable from client computing device 102. Likewise, some informationpertaining to media agents 144 and associated data streams may beavailable from secondary storage computing device 106.

Storage Manager Management Agent

Management agent 154 can provide storage manager 140 with the ability tocommunicate with other components within information management system100 and/or with other information management cells via network protocolsand, application programming interfaces (APIs) including, e.g., HTTP,HTTPS, FTP, REST, virtualization software APIs, cloud service providerAPIs, and hosted service provider APIs.

Management agent 154 also allows multiple information management cellsto communicate with one another. For example, system 100 in some casesmay be one information management cell in a network of multiple cellsadjacent to one another or otherwise logically related, e.g., in a WANor LAN. With this arrangement, the cells may communicate with oneanother through respective management agents 154. Inter-cellcommunication and hierarchy is described in greater detail in e.g., U.S.Pat. No. 7,343,453.

Information Management Cell

An “information management cell” (or “storage operation cell” or “cell”)may generally include a logical and/or physical grouping of acombination of hardware and software components associated withperforming information management operations on electronic data,typically one storage manager 140 and at least one data agent 142(executing on a client computing device 102) and at least one mediaagent 144 (executing on a secondary storage computing device 106). Forinstance, the components shown in FIG. 1C may together form aninformation management cell. Thus, in some configurations, a system 100may be referred to as an information management cell. A given cell maybe identified by the identity of its storage manager 140, which isgenerally responsible for managing the cell.

Multiple cells may be organized hierarchically, so that cells mayinherit properties from hierarchically superior cells or be controlledby other cells in the hierarchy (automatically or otherwise).Alternatively, in some embodiments, cells may inherit or otherwise beassociated with information management policies, preferences,information management operational parameters, or other properties orcharacteristics according to their relative position in a hierarchy ofcells. Cells may also be organized hierarchically according to function,geography, architectural considerations, or other factors useful ordesirable in performing information management operations. For example,a first cell may represent a geographic segment of an enterprise, suchas a Chicago office, and a second cell may represent a differentgeographic segment, such as a New York City office. Other cells mayrepresent departments within a particular office, e.g., human resources,finance, engineering, etc. Where delineated by function, a first cellmay perform one or more first types of information management operations(e.g., one or more first types of secondary copies at a certainfrequency), and a second cell may perform one or more second types ofinformation management operations (e.g., one or more second types ofsecondary copies at a different frequency and under different retentionrules). In general, the hierarchical information is maintained by one ormore storage managers 140 that manage the respective cells (e.g., incorresponding management database(s) 146).

Data Agents

A variety of different applications 110 can operate on a given clientcomputing device 102, including operating systems, file systems,database applications, e-mail applications, and virtual machines, justto name a few. And, as part of the process of creating and restoringsecondary copies 116, the client computing device 102 may be tasked withprocessing and preparing the primary data 112 generated by these variousapplications 110. Moreover, the nature of the processing/preparation candiffer across application types, e.g., due to inherent structural,state, and formatting differences among applications 110 and/or theoperating system of client computing device 102. Each data agent 142 istherefore advantageously configured in some embodiments to assist in theperformance of information management operations based on the type ofdata that is being protected at a client-specific and/orapplication-specific level.

Data agent 142 is a component of information system 100 and is generallydirected by storage manager 140 in creating or restoring secondarycopies 116. Data agent 142 may be a software program (e.g., a set ofexecutable binary files) that executes on the same client computingdevice 102 as the associated application 110 that data agent 142 isconfigured to protect. Data agent 142 is generally responsible formanaging, initiating, or otherwise assisting in the performance ofinformation management operations in reference to its associatedapplication(s) 110 and corresponding primary data 112 which isgenerated/accessed by the particular application(s). For instance, dataagent 142 may take part in copying, archiving, migrating, and/orreplicating of primary data 112 stored in the primary storage device(s)104. Data agent 142 may receive control information from storage manager140, such as commands to transfer copies of data objects and/or metadatato one or more media agents 144. Data agent 142 also may compress,deduplicate, and encrypt primary data 112 before transmitting it tomedia agent 144. Data agent 142 also may receive instructions fromstorage manager 140 to restore (or assist in restoring) a secondary copy116 from secondary storage device 108 to primary storage 104, such thatthe restored data may be accessed by application 110.

Each data agent 142 may be specialized for a particular application 110.For instance, different individual data agents 142 may be designed tohandle Microsoft Exchange data, Lotus Notes data, Microsoft Windows filesystem data, Microsoft Active Directory Objects data, SQL Server data,SharePoint data, Oracle database data, SAP database data, virtualmachines and/or associated data, and other types of data. A file systemdata agent, for example, may handle data files and/or other file systeminformation. If a client computing device 102 has two or more types ofdata 112, a specialized data agent 142 may be used for each data type.For example, to backup, migrate, and/or restore all of the data on aMicrosoft Exchange server, the client computing device 102 may use: aMicrosoft Exchange Mailbox data agent 142 to back up the Exchangemailboxes; a Microsoft Exchange Database data agent 142 to back up theExchange databases; a Microsoft Exchange Public Folder data agent 142 toback up the Exchange Public Folders; and a Microsoft Windows File Systemdata agent 142 to back up the file system of client computing device102. In such embodiments, these specialized data agents 142 may betreated as four separate data agents 142 even though they operate on thesame client computing device 102. Other examples may include archivemanagement data agents such as a migration archiver or a compliancearchiver, Quick Recovery® agents, and continuous data replicationagents. Application-specific data agents 142 can provide improvedperformance as compared to generic agents. For instance, becauseapplication-specific data agents 142 may only handle data for a singlesoftware application, the design of the data agent 142 can bestreamlined. The data agent 142 may therefore execute faster and consumeless persistent storage and/or operating memory than data agentsdesigned to generically accommodate multiple different softwareapplications 110.

Each data agent 142 may be configured to access data and/or metadatastored in the primary storage device(s) 104 associated with data agent142 and its host client computing device 102, and process the dataappropriately. For example, during a secondary copy operation, dataagent 142 may arrange or assemble the data and metadata into one or morefiles having a certain format (e.g., a particular backup or archiveformat) before transferring the file(s) to a media agent 144 or othercomponent. The file(s) may include a list of files or other metadata.

In some embodiments, a data agent 142 may be distributed between clientcomputing device 102 and storage manager 140 (and any other intermediatecomponents) or may be deployed from a remote location or its functionsapproximated by a remote process that performs some or all of thefunctions of data agent 142. In addition, a data agent 142 may performsome functions provided by media agent 144. Other embodiments may employone or more generic data agents 142 that can handle and process datafrom two or more different applications 110, or that can handle andprocess multiple data types, instead of or in addition to usingspecialized data agents 142. For example, one generic data agent 142 maybe used to back up, migrate and restore Microsoft Exchange Mailbox dataand Microsoft Exchange Database data, while another generic data agentmay handle Microsoft Exchange Public Folder data and Microsoft WindowsFile System data.

Media Agents

As noted, off-loading certain responsibilities from client computingdevices 102 to intermediate components such as secondary storagecomputing device(s) 106 and corresponding media agent(s) 144 can providea number of benefits including improved performance of client computingdevice 102, faster information management operations, and enhancedscalability. In one example which will be discussed further below, mediaagent 144 can act as a local cache of recently-copied data and/ormetadata that it stored to secondary storage device(s) 108, thusimproving restore capabilities and performance.

Media agent 144 is a component of information system 100 and isgenerally directed by storage manager 140 in creating or restoringsecondary copies 116. Whereas storage manager 140 generally managesinformation management system 100, media agent 144 provides a portal tosecondary storage devices 108. Media agent 144 may be a software program(e.g., a set of executable binary files) that executes on a secondarystorage computing device 106. Media agent 144 generally manages,coordinates, and facilitates the transmission of data between a clientcomputing device 102 (executing a data agent 142) and secondary storagedevice(s) 108. For instance, other components in the system may interactwith media agent 144 to gain access to data stored on secondary storagedevice(s) 108, (e.g., to browse, read, write, modify, delete, or restoredata). Moreover, media agents 144 can generate and store informationrelating to characteristics of the stored data and/or metadata, or cangenerate and store other types of information that generally providesinsight into the contents of the secondary storage devices 108—generallyreferred to as indexing of the stored secondary copies 116.

Media agents 144 can comprise separate nodes of system 100 (e.g., nodesthat are separate from client computing devices 102, storage manager140, and/or secondary storage devices 108). In general, a node can be alogically and/or physically separate component, and in some cases is acomponent that is individually addressable or otherwise identifiable. Inaddition, each media agent 144 may operate on a dedicated secondarystorage computing device 106, while in other embodiments a plurality ofmedia agents 144 may operate on the same secondary storage computingdevice 106.

A media agent 144 may be associated with a particular secondary storagedevice 108 if that media agent 144 is capable of one or more of: routingand/or storing data to the particular secondary storage device 108;coordinating the routing and/or storing of data to the particularsecondary storage device 108; retrieving data from the particularsecondary storage device 108; coordinating the retrieval of data fromthe particular secondary storage device 108; and modifying and/ordeleting data retrieved from the particular secondary storage device108. Media agent 144 in certain embodiments is physically separate fromthe associated secondary storage device 108. For instance, a media agent144 may operate on a secondary storage computing device 106 in adistinct housing, package, and/or location from the associated secondarystorage device 108. In one example, a media agent 144 operates on afirst server computer and is in communication with a secondary storagedevice(s) 108 operating in a separate rack-mounted RAID-based system.

A media agent 144 associated with a particular secondary storage device108 may instruct secondary storage device 108 to perform an informationmanagement task. For instance, a media agent 144 may instruct a tapelibrary to use a robotic arm or other retrieval means to load or eject acertain storage media, and to subsequently archive, migrate, or retrievedata to or from that media, e.g., for the purpose of restoring data to aclient computing device 102. As another example, a secondary storagedevice 108 may include an array of hard disk drives or solid statedrives organized in a RAID configuration, and media agent 144 mayforward a logical unit number (LUN) and other appropriate information tothe array, which uses the received information to execute the desiredsecondary copy operation. Media agent 144 may communicate with asecondary storage device 108 via a suitable communications link, such asa SCSI or Fiber Channel link.

Each media agent 144 may maintain an associated media agent database152. Media agent database 152 may be stored to a disk or other storagedevice (not shown) that is local to the secondary storage computingdevice 106 on which media agent 144 operates. In other cases, mediaagent database 152 is stored separately from the host secondary storagecomputing device 106. Media agent database 152 can include, among otherthings, a media agent index 153 (see, e.g., FIG. 1C). In some cases,media agent index 153 does not form a part of and is instead separatefrom media agent database 152.

Media agent index 153 (or “index 153”) may be a data structureassociated with the particular media agent 144 that includes informationabout the stored data associated with the particular media agent andwhich may be generated in the course of performing a secondary copyoperation or a restore. Index 153 provides a fast and efficientmechanism for locating/browsing secondary copies 116 or other datastored in secondary storage devices 108 without having to accesssecondary storage device 108 to retrieve the information from there. Forinstance, for each secondary copy 116, index 153 may include metadatasuch as a list of the data objects (e.g., files/subdirectories, databaseobjects, mailbox objects, etc.), a logical path to the secondary copy116 on the corresponding secondary storage device 108, locationinformation (e.g., offsets) indicating where the data objects are storedin the secondary storage device 108, when the data objects were createdor modified, etc. Thus, index 153 includes metadata associated with thesecondary copies 116 that is readily available for use from media agent144. In some embodiments, some or all of the information in index 153may instead or additionally be stored along with secondary copies 116 insecondary storage device 108. In some embodiments, a secondary storagedevice 108 can include sufficient information to enable a “bare metalrestore,” where the operating system and/or software applications of afailed client computing device 102 or another target may beautomatically restored without manually reinstalling individual softwarepackages (including operating systems).

Because index 153 may operate as a cache, it can also be referred to asan “index cache.” In such cases, information stored in index cache 153typically comprises data that reflects certain particulars aboutrelatively recent secondary copy operations. After some triggeringevent, such as after some time elapses or index cache 153 reaches aparticular size, certain portions of index cache 153 may be copied ormigrated to secondary storage device 108, e.g., on a least-recently-usedbasis. This information may be retrieved and uploaded back into indexcache 153 or otherwise restored to media agent 144 to facilitateretrieval of data from the secondary storage device(s) 108. In someembodiments, the cached information may include format orcontainerization information related to archives or other files storedon storage device(s) 108.

In some alternative embodiments media agent 144 generally acts as acoordinator or facilitator of secondary copy operations between clientcomputing devices 102 and secondary storage devices 108, but does notactually write the data to secondary storage device 108. For instance,storage manager 140 (or media agent 144) may instruct a client computingdevice 102 and secondary storage device 108 to communicate with oneanother directly. In such a case, client computing device 102 transmitsdata directly or via one or more intermediary components to secondarystorage device 108 according to the received instructions, and viceversa. Media agent 144 may still receive, process, and/or maintainmetadata related to the secondary copy operations, i.e., may continue tobuild and maintain index 153. In these embodiments, payload data canflow through media agent 144 for the purposes of populating index 153,but not for writing to secondary storage device 108.

Media agent 144 and/or other components such as storage manager 140 mayin some cases incorporate additional functionality, such as dataclassification, content indexing, deduplication, encryption,compression, and the like. Further details regarding these and otherfunctions are described below.

Distributed, Scalable Architecture

As described, certain functions of system 100 can be distributed amongstvarious physical and/or logical components. For instance, one or more ofstorage manager 140, data agents 142, and media agents 144 may operateon computing devices that are physically separate from one another. Thisarchitecture can provide a number of benefits. For instance, hardwareand software design choices for each distributed component can betargeted to suit its particular function. The secondary computingdevices 106 on which media agents 144 operate can be tailored forinteraction with associated secondary storage devices 108 and providefast index cache operation, among other specific tasks. Similarly,client computing device(s) 102 can be selected to effectively serviceapplications 110 in order to efficiently produce and store primary data112.

Moreover, in some cases, one or more of the individual components ofinformation management system 100 can be distributed to multipleseparate computing devices. As one example, for large file systems wherethe amount of data stored in management database 146 is relativelylarge, database 146 may be migrated to or may otherwise reside on aspecialized database server (e.g., an SQL server) separate from a serverthat implements the other functions of storage manager 140. Thisdistributed configuration can provide added protection because database146 can be protected with standard database utilities (e.g., SQL logshipping or database replication) independent from other functions ofstorage manager 140. Database 146 can be efficiently replicated to aremote site for use in the event of a disaster or other data loss at theprimary site. Or database 146 can be replicated to another computingdevice within the same site, such as to a higher performance machine inthe event that a storage manager host computing device can no longerservice the needs of a growing system 100.

The distributed architecture also provides scalability and efficientcomponent utilization, FIG. 1D shows an embodiment of informationmanagement system 100 including a plurality of client computing devices102 and associated data agents 142 as well as a plurality of secondarystorage computing devices 106 and associated media agents 144.Additional components can be added or subtracted based on the evolvingneeds of system 100. For instance, depending on where bottlenecks areidentified, administrators can add additional client computing devices102, secondary storage computing devices 106, and/or secondary storagedevices 108. Moreover, where multiple fungible components are available,load balancing can be implemented to dynamically address identifiedbottlenecks. As an example, storage manager 140 may dynamically selectwhich media agents 144 and/or secondary storage devices 108 to use forstorage operations based on a processing load analysis of media agents144 and/or secondary storage devices 108, respectively.

Where system 100 includes multiple media agents 144 (see, e.g., FIG.1D), a first media agent 144 may provide failover functionality for asecond failed media agent 144. In addition, media agents 144 can bedynamically selected to provide load balancing. Each client computingdevice 102 can communicate with, among other components, any of themedia agents 144, e.g., as directed by storage manager 140. And eachmedia agent 144 may communicate with, among other components, any ofsecondary storage devices 108, e.g., as directed by storage manager 140.Thus, operations can be routed to secondary storage devices 108 in adynamic and highly flexible manner, to provide load balancing, failover,etc. Further examples of scalable systems capable of dynamic storageoperations, load balancing, and failover are provided in U.S. Pat. No.7,246,207.

While distributing functionality amongst multiple computing devices canhave certain advantages, in other contexts it can be beneficial toconsolidate functionality on the same computing device. In alternativeconfigurations, certain components may reside and execute on the samecomputing device. As such, in other embodiments, one or more of thecomponents shown in FIG. 1C may be implemented on the same computingdevice. In one configuration, a storage manager 140, one or more dataagents 142, and/or one or more media agents 144 are all implemented onthe same computing device. In other embodiments, one or more data agents142 and one or more media agents 144 are implemented on the samecomputing device, while storage manager 140 is implemented on a separatecomputing device, etc. without limitation.

Exemplary Types of Information Management Operations

In order to protect and leverage stored data, system 100 can beconfigured to perform a variety of information management operations,which may also be referred to in some cases as storage managementoperations or storage operations. These operations can generally include(i) data movement operations, (ii) processing and data manipulationoperations, and (iii) analysis, reporting, and management operations.

Data Movement Operations, Including Secondary Copy Operations

Data movement operations are generally operations that involve thecopying or migration of data between different locations in system 100.For example, data movement operations can include operations in whichstored data is copied, migrated, or otherwise transferred from one ormore first storage devices to one or more second storage devices, suchas from primary storage device(s) 104 to secondary storage device(s)108, from secondary storage device(s) 108 to different secondary storagedevice(s) 108, from secondary storage devices 108 to primary storagedevices 104, or from primary storage device(s) 104 to different primarystorage device(s) 104, or in some cases within the same primary storagedevice 104 such as within a storage array.

Data movement operations can include by way of example, backupoperations, archive operations, information lifecycle managementoperations such as hierarchical storage management operations,replication operations (e.g., continuous data replication), snapshotoperations, deduplication or single-instancing operations, auxiliarycopy operations, disaster-recovery copy operations, and the like. Aswill be discussed, some of these operations do not necessarily createdistinct copies. Nonetheless, some or all of these operations aregenerally referred to as “secondary copy operations” for simplicity.Data movement also comprises restoring secondary copies.

Backup Operations

A backup operation creates a copy of a version of primary data 112 at aparticular point in time (e.g., one or more files or other data units).Each subsequent backup copy 116 (which is a form of secondary copy 116)may be maintained independently of the first. A backup generallyinvolves maintaining a version of the copied primary data 112 as well asbackup copies 116. Further, a backup copy in some embodiments isgenerally stored in a form that is different from the native format,e.g., a backup format. This contrasts to the version in primary data 112which may instead be stored in a native format of the sourceapplication(s) 110. In various cases, backup copies can be stored in aformat in which the data is compressed, encrypted, deduplicated, and/orotherwise modified from the original native application format. Forexample, a backup copy may be stored in a compressed backup format thatfacilitates efficient long-term storage.

Backup copies 116 can have relatively long retention periods as comparedto primary data 112, which is generally highly changeable. Backup copies116 may be stored on media with slower retrieval times than primarystorage device 104. Some backup copies may have shorter retentionperiods than some other types of secondary copies 116, such as archivecopies (described below). Backups may be stored at an offsite location.

Backup operations can include full backups, differential backups,incremental backups, “synthetic full” backups, and/or creating a“reference copy.” A full backup (or “standard full backup”) in someembodiments is generally a complete image of the data to be protected.However, because full backup copies can consume a relatively largeamount of storage, it can be useful to use a full backup copy as abaseline and only store changes relative to the full backup copy forsubsequent backup copies.

A differential backup operation (or cumulative incremental backupoperation) tracks and stores changes that occurred since the last fullbackup. Differential backups can grow quickly in size, but can restorerelatively efficiently because a restore can be completed in some casesusing only the full backup copy and the latest differential copy.

An incremental backup operation generally tracks and stores changessince the most recent backup copy of any type, which can greatly reducestorage utilization. In some cases, however, restoring can be lengthycompared to full or differential backups because completing a restoreoperation may involve accessing a full backup in addition to multipleincremental backups.

Synthetic full backups generally consolidate data without directlybacking up data from the client computing device. A synthetic fullbackup is created from the most recent full backup (i.e., standard orsynthetic) and subsequent incremental and/or differential backups. Theresulting synthetic full backup is identical to what would have beencreated had the last backup for the subclient been a standard fullbackup. Unlike standard full, incremental, and differential backups,however, a synthetic full backup does not actually transfer data fromprimary storage to the backup media, because it operates as a backupconsolidator. A synthetic full backup extracts the index data of eachparticipating subclient. Using this index data and the previously backedup user data images, it builds new full backup images (e.g., bitmaps),one for each subclient. The new backup images consolidate the index anduser data stored in the related incremental, differential, and previousfull backups into a synthetic backup file that fully represents thesubclient (e.g., via pointers) but does not comprise all its constituentdata.

Any of the above types of backup operations can be at the volume level,file level, or block level. Volume level backup operations generallyinvolve copying of a data volume (e.g., a logical disk or partition) asa whole. In a file-level backup, information management system 100generally tracks changes to individual files and includes copies offiles in the backup copy. For block-level backups, files are broken intoconstituent blocks, and changes are tracked at the block level. Uponrestore, system 100 reassembles the blocks into files in a transparentfashion. Far less data may actually be transferred and copied tosecondary storage devices 108 during a file-level copy than avolume-level copy. Likewise, a block-level copy may transfer less datathan a file-level copy, resulting in faster execution. However,restoring a relatively higher-granularity copy can result in longerrestore times. For instance, when restoring a block-level copy, theprocess of locating constituent blocks can sometimes take longer thanrestoring file-level backups.

A reference copy may comprise copy(ies) of selected objects from backedup data, typically to help organize data by keeping contextualinformation from multiple sources together, and/or help retain specificdata for a longer period of time, such as for legal hold needs. Areference copy generally maintains data integrity, and when the data isrestored, it may be viewed in the same format as the source data. Insome embodiments, a reference copy is based on a specialized client,individual subclient and associated information management policies(e.g., storage policy, retention policy, etc.) that are administeredwithin system 100.

Archive Operations

Because backup operations generally involve maintaining a version of thecopied primary data 112 and also maintaining backup copies in secondarystorage device(s) 108, they can consume significant storage capacity. Toreduce storage consumption, an archive operation according to certainembodiments creates an archive copy 116 by both copying and removingsource data. Or, seen another way, archive operations can involve movingsome or all of the source data to the archive destination. Thus, datasatisfying criteria for removal (e.g., data of a threshold age or size)may be removed from source storage. The source data may be primary data112 or a secondary copy 116, depending on the situation. As with backupcopies, archive copies can be stored in a format in which the data iscompressed, encrypted, deduplicated, and/or otherwise modified from theformat of the original application or source copy. In addition, archivecopies may be retained for relatively long periods of time (e.g., years)and, in some cases are never deleted. Archive copies are generallyretained for longer periods of time than backup copies. In certainembodiments, archive copies may be made and kept for extended periods inorder to meet compliance regulations.

Archiving can also serve the purpose of freeing up space in primarystorage device(s) 104 and easing the demand on computational resourceson client computing device 102. Similarly, when a secondary copy 116 isarchived, the archive copy can therefore serve the purpose of freeing upspace in the source secondary storage device(s) 108. Examples of dataarchiving operations are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,107,298.

Snapshot Operations

Snapshot operations can provide a relatively lightweight, efficientmechanism for protecting data. From an end-user viewpoint, a snapshotmay be thought of as an “instant” image of primary data 112 at a givenpoint in time, and may include state and/or status information relativeto an application 110 that creates/manages primary data 112. In oneembodiment, a snapshot may generally capture the directory structure ofan object in primary data 112 such as a file or volume or other data setat a particular moment in time and may also preserve file attributes andcontents. A snapshot in some cases is created relatively quickly, e.g.,substantially instantly, using a minimum amount of file space, but maystill function as a conventional file system backup.

A “hardware snapshot” (or “hardware-based snapshot”) operation can be asnapshot operation where a target storage device (e.g., a primarystorage device 104 or a secondary storage device 108) performs thesnapshot operation in a self-contained fashion, substantiallyindependently, using hardware, firmware and/or software operating on thestorage device itself. For instance, the storage device may performsnapshot operations generally without intervention or oversight from anyof the other components of the system 100, e.g., a storage array maygenerate an “array-created” hardware snapshot and may also manage itsstorage, integrity, versioning, etc. In this manner, hardware snapshotscan off-load other components of system 100 from processing involved increating and managing snapshots.

A “software snapshot” (or “software-based snapshot”) operation, on theother hand, can be a snapshot operation in which one or more othercomponents in information management system 100 (e.g., client computingdevices 102, data agents 142, etc.) implement a software layer thatmanages the snapshot operation via interaction with the target storagedevice. For instance, the component executing the snapshot managementsoftware layer may derive a set of pointers and/or data that representsthe snapshot. The snapshot management software layer may then transmitthe same to the target storage device, along with appropriateinstructions for writing the snapshot. One example of a softwaresnapshot product may be Microsoft Volume Snapshot Service (VSS), whichis part of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Some types of snapshots do not actually create another physical copy ofall the data as it existed at the particular point in time, but maysimply create pointers that are able to map files and directories tospecific memory locations (e.g., to specific disk blocks) where the dataresides, as it existed at the particular point in time. For example, asnapshot copy may include a set of pointers derived from the file systemor from an application. In some other cases, the snapshot may be createdat the block-level, such that creation of the snapshot occurs withoutawareness of the file system. Each pointer points to a respective storeddata block, so that collectively, the set of pointers reflect thestorage location and state of the data object (e.g., file(s) orvolume(s) or data set(s)) at the particular point in time when thesnapshot copy was created.

An initial snapshot may use only a small amount of disk space needed torecord a mapping or other data structure representing or otherwisetracking the blocks that correspond to the current state of the filesystem. Additional disk space is usually required only when files anddirectories change later on. Furthermore, when files change, typicallyonly the pointers which map to blocks are copied, not the blocksthemselves. For example for “copy-on-write” snapshots, when a blockchanges in primary storage, the block is copied to secondary, storage orcached in primary storage before the block is overwritten in primarystorage, and the pointer to that block is changed to reflect the newlocation of that block. The snapshot mapping of file system data mayalso be updated to reflect the changed block(s) at that particular pointin time. In some other cases, a snapshot includes a full physical copyof all or substantially all of the data represented by the snapshot.Further examples of snapshot operations are provided in U.S. Pat. No.7,529,782.

A snapshot copy in many cases can be made quickly and withoutsignificantly impacting primary computing resources because largeamounts of data need not be copied or moved. In some embodiments, asnapshot may exist as a virtual file system, parallel to the actual filesystem. Users in some cases gain read-only access to the record of filesand directories of the snapshot. By electing to restore primary data 112from a snapshot taken at a given point in time, users may also returnthe current file system to the state of the file system that existedwhen the snapshot was taken.

Replication Operations

Another type of secondary copy operation is a replication operation.Some types of secondary copies 116 are used to periodically captureimages of primary data 112 at particular points in time (e.g., backups,archives, and snapshots). However, it can also be useful for recoverypurposes to protect primary data 112 in a more continuous fashion, byreplicating primary data 112 substantially as changes occur. In somecases a replication copy can be a mirror copy, for instance, wherechanges made to primary data 112 are mirrored or substantiallyimmediately copied to another location (e.g., to secondary storagedevice(s) 108). By copying each write operation to the replication copy,two storage systems are kept synchronized or substantially synchronizedso that they are virtually identical at approximately the same time.Where entire disk volumes are mirrored, however, mirroring can requiresignificant amount of storage space and utilizes a large amount ofprocessing resources.

According to some embodiments secondary copy operations are performed onreplicated data that represents a recoverable state, or “known goodstate” of a particular application running on the source system. Forinstance, in certain embodiments, known good replication copies may beviewed as copies of primary data 112. This feature allows the system todirectly access, copy, restore, backup or otherwise manipulate thereplication copies as if the data were the “live” primary data 112. Thiscan reduce access time, storage utilization, and impact on sourceapplications 110, among other benefits. Based on known good stateinformation, system 100 can replicate sections of application data thatrepresent a recoverable state rather than rote copying of blocks ofdata. Examples of replication operations (e.g., continuous datareplication) are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,617,262.

Deduplication/Single-Instancing Operations

Deduplication or single-instance storage is useful to reduce the amountof non-primary data. For instance, some or all of the above-describedsecondary copy operations can involve deduplication in some fashion. Newdata is read, broken down into data portions of a selected granularity(e.g., sub-file level blocks, files, etc.), compared with correspondingportions that are already in secondary storage, and only new portionsare stored. Portions that already exist are represented as pointers tothe already-stored data. Thus, a deduplicated secondary copy 116 maycomprise actual data portions copied from primary data 112 and mayfurther comprise pointers to already-stored data, which is generallymore storage-efficient than a full copy.

In order to streamline the comparison process, information managementsystem 100 may calculate and/or store signatures (e.g., hashes orcryptographically unique IDs) corresponding to the individual dataportions in the source data and compare the signatures instead ofcomparing entire data portions. In some cases, only a single instance ofeach data portion is stored, and deduplication operations may thereforebe referred to interchangeably as “single-instancing” operations.Depending on the implementation, however, deduplication operations canstore more than one instance of certain data portions, but nonethelesssignificantly reduce stored-data redundancy. Depending on theembodiment, deduplication portions such as data blocks can be of fixedor variable length. Using variable length blocks can enhancededuplication by responding to changes in the data stream, but caninvolve complex processing. In some cases, system 100 utilizes atechnique for dynamically aligning deduplication blocks based onchanging content in the data stream, as described in U.S. Pat. No.8,364,652.

Information management system 100 can perform deduplication in a varietyof manners at a variety of locations. For instance, in some embodiments,system 100 implements “target-side” deduplication by deduplicating dataat the media agent 144 after being received from data agent 142. In somesuch cases, the media agents 144 are generally configured to manage thededuplication process. For instance, one or more of the media agents 144maintain a corresponding deduplication database that storesdeduplication information (e.g., datablock signatures). Examples of sucha configuration are provided in U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2012/0150826. Insteadof or in combination with “target-side” deduplication, deduplication canalso be performed on the “source-side” (or “client-side”), e.g., toreduce the amount of data to be transmitted by data agent 142 to mediaagent 144. Storage manager 140 may communicate with other componentswithin system 100 via network protocols and cloud service provider APIsto facilitate cloud-based deduplication/single instancing, asexemplified in U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2012/0150818. Some otherdeduplication/single instancing techniques are described in U.S. Pat.Pub. Nos. 2006/0224846 and 2009/0319534.

Information Lifecycle Management and Hierarchical Storage Management

In some embodiments, files and other data over, their lifetime move frommore expensive quick-access storage to less expensive slower-accessstorage. Operations associated with moving data through various tiers ofstorage are sometimes referred to as information lifecycle management(ILM) operations.

One type of ILM operation is a hierarchical storage management (HSM)operation, which generally automatically moves data between classes ofstorage devices, such as from high-cost to low-cost storage devices. Forinstance, an HSM operation may involve movement of data from primarystorage devices 104 to secondary storage devices 108, or between tiersof secondary storage devices 108. With each tier, the storage devicesmay be progressively cheaper, have relatively slower access/restoretimes, etc. For example, movement of data between tiers may occur asdata becomes less important over time. In some embodiments, an HSMoperation is similar to archiving in that creating an HSM copy may(though not always) involve deleting some of the source data, e.g.,according to one or more criteria related to the source data. Forexample, an HSM copy may include primary data 112 or a secondary copy116 that is larger than a given size threshold or older than a given agethreshold. Often, and unlike some types of archive copies, HSM data thatis removed or aged from the source is replaced by a logical referencepointer or stub. The reference pointer or stub can be stored in theprimary storage device 104 or other source storage device, such as asecondary storage device 108 to replace the deleted source data and topoint to or otherwise indicate the new location in (another) secondarystorage device 108,

According to one example, files are generally moved between higher andlower cost storage depending on how often the files are accessed. When auser requests access to HSM data that has been removed or migrated,system 100 uses the stub to locate the data and may make recovery of thedata appear transparent, even though the HSM data may be stored at alocation different from other source data. In this manner, the dataappears to the user (e.g., in file system browsing windows and the like)as if it still resides in the source location (e.g., in a primarystorage device 104). The stub may also include some metadata associatedwith the corresponding data, so that a file system and/or applicationcan provide some information about the data object and/or alimited-functionality version (e.g., a preview) of the data object.

An HSM copy may be stored in a format other than the native applicationformat (e.g., compressed, encrypted, deduplicated, and/or otherwisemodified). In some cases, copies which involve the removal of data fromsource storage and the maintenance of stub or other logical referenceinformation on source storage may be referred to generally as “on-linearchive copies”. On the other hand, copies which involve the removal ofdata from source storage without the maintenance of stub or otherlogical reference information on source storage may be referred to as“off-line archive copies”. Examples of HSM and ILM techniques areprovided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,453.

Auxiliary Copy Operations

An auxiliary copy is generally a copy of an existing secondary copy 116.For instance, an initial secondary copy 116 may be derived from primarydata 112 or from data residing in secondary storage subsystem 118,whereas an auxiliary copy is generated from the initial secondary copy116. Auxiliary copies provide additional standby copies of data and mayreside on different secondary storage devices 108 than the initialsecondary copies 116. Thus, auxiliary copies can be used for recoverypurposes if initial secondary copies 116 become unavailable. Exemplaryauxiliary copy techniques are described in further detail in U.S. Pat.No. 8,230,195.

Disaster-Recovery Copy Operations

Information management system 100 may also make and retain disasterrecovery copies, often as secondary, high-availability disk copies.System 100 may create secondary disk copies and store the copies atdisaster recovery locations using auxiliary copy or replicationoperations, such as continuous data replication technologies. Dependingon the particular data protection goals, disaster recovery locations canbe remote from the client computing devices 102 and primary storagedevices 104, remote from some or all of the secondary storage devices108, or both.

Data Manipulation, Including Encryption and Compression

Data manipulation and processing may include encryption and compressionas well as integrity marking and checking, formatting for transmission,formatting for storage, etc. Data may be manipulated “client-side” bydata agent 142 as well as “target-side” by media agent 144 in the courseof creating secondary copy 116.

Encryption Operations

Information management system 100 in some cases is configured to processdata (e.g., files or other data objects,' primary data 112, secondarycopies 116, etc.), according to an appropriate encryption algorithm(e.g., Blowfish, Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), Triple DataEncryption Standard (3-DES), etc.) to limit access and provide datasecurity. System 100 in some cases encrypts the data at the clientlevel, such that client computing devices 102 (e.g., data agents 142)encrypt the data prior to transferring it to other components, e.g.,before sending the data to media agents 144 during a secondary copyoperation. In such cases, client computing device 102 may maintain orhave access to an encryption key or passphrase for decrypting the dataupon restore. Encryption can also occur when media agent 144 createsauxiliary copies or archive copies. Encryption may be applied increating a secondary copy 116 of a previously unencrypted secondary copy116, without limitation. In further embodiments, secondary storagedevices 108 can implement built-in, high performance hardware-basedencryption.

Compression Operations

Similar to encryption, system 100 may also or alternatively compressdata in the course of generating a secondary copy 116. Compressionencodes information such that fewer bits are needed to represent theinformation as compared to the original representation. Compressiontechniques are well known in the art. Compression operations may applyone or more data compression algorithms. Compression may be applied increating a secondary copy 116 of a previously uncompressed secondarycopy, e.g., when making archive copies or disaster recovery copies. Theuse of compression may result in metadata that specifies the nature ofthe compression, so that data may be uncompressed on restore ifappropriate.

Data Analysis, Reporting, and Management Operations

Data analysis, reporting, and management operations can differ from datamovement operations in that they do not necessarily involve copying,migration or other transfer of data between different locations in thesystem. For instance, data analysis operations may involve processing(e.g., offline processing) or modification of already stored primarydata 112 and/or secondary copies 116. However, in some embodiments dataanalysis operations are performed in conjunction with data movementoperations. Some data analysis operations include content indexingoperations and classification operations which can be useful inleveraging the data under management to provide enhanced search andother features. Other data analysis operations such as compression andencryption can provide data reduction and security benefits,respectively,

Classification Operations/Content Indexing

In some embodiments, information management system 100 analyzes andindexes characteristics, content, and metadata associated with primarydata 112 (“online content indexing”) and/or secondary copies 116(“off-line content indexing”). Content indexing can identify files orother data objects based on content (e.g., user-defined keywords orphrases, other keywords/phrases that are not defined by a user, etc.),and/or metadata (e.g., email metadata such as “to”, “from,” “cc,” “bcc,”attachment name, received time, etc.). Content indexes may be searchedand search results may be restored.

Information management system 100 generally organizes and catalogues theresults into a content index, which may be stored within media agentdatabase 152, for example. The content index can also include thestorage locations of or pointer references to indexed data in primarydata 112 or secondary copies 116, as appropriate. The results may alsobe stored elsewhere in system 100 (e.g., in primary storage device 104or in secondary storage device 108). Such content index data providesstorage manager 140 or other components with an efficient mechanism forlocating primary data 112 and/or secondary copies 116 of data objectsthat match particular criteria, thus greatly increasing the search speedcapability of system 100. For instance, search criteria can be specifiedby a user through user interface 158 of storage manager 140. Moreover,when system 100 analyzes data and/or metadata in secondary copies 116 tocreate an “off-line content index,” this operation has no significantimpact on the performance of client computing devices 102 and thus doesnot take a toll on the production environment. Examples of contentindexing techniques are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 8,170,995.

One or more components, such as a content index engine, can beconfigured to scan data and/or associated metadata for classificationpurposes to populate a database (or other data structure) ofinformation, which can be referred to as a “data classificationdatabase” or a “metabase.” Depending on the embodiment, the dataclassification database(s) can be organized in a variety of differentways, including centralization, logical sub-divisions, and/or physicalsub-divisions. For instance, one or more data classification databasesmay be associated with different subsystems or tiers within system 100.As an example, there may be a first metabase associated with primarystorage subsystem 117 and a second metabase associated with secondarystorage subsystem 118. In other cases, there may be one or moremetabases associated with individual components, e.g., client computingdevices 102 and/or media agents 144. In some embodiments, a dataclassification database may reside as one or more data structures withinmanagement database 146, or may be otherwise associated with storagemanager 140 or may reside as a separate component.

In some cases, metabase(s) may be included in separate database(s)and/or on separate storage device(s) from primary data 112 and/orsecondary copies 116, such that operations related to the metabase(s) donot significantly impact performance on other components of informationmanagement system 100. In other cases, metabase(s) may be stored alongwith primary data 112 and/or secondary copies 116. Files or other dataobjects can be associated with identifiers (e.g., tag entries, etc.) tofacilitate searches of stored data objects. Among a number of otherbenefits, the metabase can also allow efficient, automaticidentification of files or other data objects to associate withsecondary copy or other information management operations. For instance,a metabase can dramatically improve the speed with which the informationmanagement system can search through and identify data as compared toother approaches which can involve scanning an entire file system.Examples of metabases and data classification operations are provided inU.S. Pat. Nos. 7,734,669 and 7,747,579.

Management and Reporting Operations

Certain embodiments leverage the integrated ubiquitous nature ofinformation management system 100 to provide useful system-widemanagement and reporting functions. Operations management can generallyinclude monitoring and managing the health and performance of system 100by, without limitation, performing error tracking, generating granularstorage/performance metrics (e.g., job success/failure information,deduplication efficiency, etc.), generating storage modeling and costinginformation, and the like. As an example, storage manager 140 or othercomponent in system 100 may analyze traffic patterns and suggest and/orautomatically route data to minimize congestion. In some embodiments,the system can generate predictions relating to storage operations orstorage operation information. Such predictions, which may be based on atrending analysis, may predict various network operations or resourceusage, such as network traffic levels, storage media use, use ofbandwidth of communication links, use of media agent components, etc.Further examples of traffic analysis, trend analysis, predictiongeneration, and the like are described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,453.

In some configurations having a hierarchy of storage operation cells, amaster storage manager 140 may track the status of subordinate cells,such as the status of jobs, system components, system resources, andother items, by communicating with storage managers 140 (or othercomponents) in the respective storage operation cells. Moreover, themaster storage manager 140 may also track status by receiving periodicstatus updates from the storage managers 140 (or other components) inthe respective cells regarding jobs, system components, systemresources, and other items. In some embodiments, a master storagemanager 140 may store status information and other information regardingits associated storage operation cells and other system information inits management database 146 and/or index 150 (or in another location).The master storage manager 140 or other component may also determinewhether certain storage-related or other criteria are satisfied, and mayperform an action or trigger event (e.g., data migration) in response tothe criteria being satisfied, such as where a storage threshold is metfor a particular volume, or where inadequate protection exists forcertain data. For instance, data from one or more storage operationcells is used to dynamically and automatically mitigate recognizedrisks, and/or to advise users of risks or suggest actions to mitigatethese risks. For example, an information management policy may specifycertain requirements (e.g., that a storage device should maintain acertain amount of free space, that secondary copies should occur at aparticular interval, that data should be aged and migrated to otherstorage after a particular period, that data on a secondary volumeshould always have a certain level of availability and be restorablewithin a given time period, that data on a secondary volume may bemirrored or otherwise migrated to a specified number of other volumes,etc.). If a risk condition or other criterion is triggered, the systemmay notify the user of these conditions and may suggest (orautomatically implement) a mitigation action to address the risk. Forexample, the system may indicate that data from a primary copy 112should be migrated to a secondary storage device 108 to free space onprimary storage device 104. Examples of the use of risk factors andother triggering criteria are described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,453.

In some embodiments, system 100 may also determine whether a metric orother indication satisfies particular storage criteria sufficient toperform an action. For example, a storage policy or other definitionmight indicate that a storage manager 140 should initiate a particularaction if a storage metric or other indication drops below or otherwisefails to satisfy specified criteria such as a threshold of dataprotection. In some embodiments, risk factors may be quantified intocertain measurable service or risk levels. For example, certainapplications and associated data may be considered to be more importantrelative to other data and services. Financial compliance data, forexample, may be of greater importance than marketing materials, etc.Network administrators may assign priority values or “weights” tocertain data and/or applications corresponding to the relativeimportance. The level of compliance of secondary copy operationsspecified for these applications may also be assigned a certain value.Thus, the health, impact, and overall importance of a service may bedetermined, such as by measuring the compliance value and calculatingthe product of the priority value and the compliance value to determinethe “service level” and comparing it to certain operational thresholdsto determine whether it is acceptable. Further examples of the servicelevel determination are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,453, which isincorporated by reference herein.

System 100 may additionally calculate data costing and data availabilityassociated with information management operation cells. For instance,data received from a cell may be used in conjunction withhardware-related information and other information about system elementsto determine the cost of storage and/or the availability of particulardata. Exemplary information generated could include how fast aparticular department is using up available storage space, how long datawould take to recover over a particular pathway from a particularsecondary storage device, costs over time, etc. Moreover, in someembodiments, such information may be used to determine or predict theoverall cost associated with the storage of certain information. Thecost associated with hosting a certain application may be based, atleast in part, on the type of media on which the data resides, forexample. Storage devices may be assigned to a particular costcategories, for example. Further examples of costing techniques aredescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,453.

Any of the above types of information (e.g., information related totrending, predictions, job, cell or component status, risk, servicelevel, costing, etc.) can generally be provided to users via userinterface 158 in a single integrated view or console (not shown). Reporttypes may include: scheduling, event management, media management anddata aging. Available reports may also include backup history, dataaging history, auxiliary copy history, job history, library and drive,media in library, restore history, and storage policy, etc., withoutlimitation. Such reports may be specified and created at a certain pointin time as a system analysis, forecasting, or provisioning tool.Integrated reports may also be generated that illustrate storage andperformance metrics, risks and storage costing information. Moreover,users may create their own reports based on specific needs. Userinterface 158 can include an option to show a “virtual view” of thesystem that graphically depicts the various components in the systemusing appropriate icons. As one example, user interface 158 may providea graphical depiction of primary storage devices 104, secondary storagedevices 108, data agents 142 and/or media agents 144, and theirrelationship to one another in system 100.

In general, the operations management functionality, of system 100 canfacilitate planning and decision-making. For example, in someembodiments, a user may view the status of some or all jobs as well asthe status of each component of information management system 100. Usersmay then plan and make decisions based on this data. For instance, auser may view high-level information regarding secondary copy operationsfor system 100, such as job status, component status, resource status(e.g., communication pathways, etc.), and other information. The usermay also drill down or use other means to obtain more detailedinformation regarding a particular component, job, or the like. Furtherexamples are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,453.

Information management system 100 can also be configured to performsystem-wide e-discovery operations in some embodiments. In general,e-discovery operations provide a unified collection and searchcapability for data in the system, such as data stored in secondarystorage devices 108 (e.g., backups, archives, or other secondary copies116). For example, system 100 may construct and maintain a virtualrepository for data stored in system 100 that is integrated acrosssource applications 110, different storage device types, etc. Accordingto some embodiments, e-discovery utilizes other techniques describedherein, such as data classification and/or content indexing.

Information Management Policies

An information management policy 148 can include a data structure orother information source that specifies a set of parameters (e.g.,criteria and rules) associated with secondary copy and/or otherinformation management operations.

One type of information management policy 148 is a “storage policy.”According to certain embodiments, a storage policy generally comprises adata structure or other information source that defines (or includesinformation sufficient to determine) a set of preferences or othercriteria for performing information management operations. Storagepolicies can include one or more of the following: (1) what data will beassociated with the storage policy, e.g., subclient; (2) a destinationto which the data will be stored; (3) datapath information specifyinghow the data will be communicated to the destination; (4) the type ofsecondary copy operation to be performed; and (5) retention informationspecifying how long the data will be retained at the destination (see,e.g., FIG. 1E). Data associated with a storage policy can be logicallyorganized into subclients, which may represent primary data 112 and/orsecondary copies 116. A subclient may represent static or dynamicassociations of portions of a data volume. Subclients may representmutually exclusive portions. Thus, in certain embodiments, a portion ofdata may be given a label and the association is stored as a staticentity in an index, database or other storage location. Subclients mayalso be used as an effective administrative scheme of organizing dataaccording to data type, department within the enterprise, storagepreferences, or the like. Depending on the configuration, subclients cancorrespond to files, folders, virtual machines, databases, etc. In oneexemplary scenario, an administrator may find it preferable to separatee-mail data from financial data using two different subclients.

A storage policy can define where data is stored by specifying a targetor destination storage device (or group of storage devices). Forinstance, where the secondary storage device 108 includes a group ofdisk libraries, the storage policy may specify a particular disk libraryfor storing the subclients associated with the policy. As anotherexample, where the secondary storage devices 108 include one or moretape libraries, the storage policy may specify a particular tape libraryfor storing the subclients associated with the storage policy, and mayalso specify a drive pool and a tape pool defining group of tape drivesand a group of tapes, respectively, for use in storing the subclientdata. While information in the storage policy can be statically assignedin some cases, some or all of the information in the storage policy canalso be dynamically determined based on criteria, which can be set forthin the storage policy. For instance, based on such criteria, aparticular destination storage device(s) or other parameter of thestorage policy may be determined based on characteristics associatedwith the data involved in a particular secondary copy operation, deviceavailability (e.g., availability of a secondary storage device 108 or amedia agent 144), network status and conditions (e.g., identifiedbottlenecks), user credentials, and the like.

Datapath information can also be included in the storage policy. Forinstance, the storage policy may specify network pathways and componentsto utilize when moving the data to the destination storage device(s). Insome embodiments, the storage policy specifies one or more media agents144 for conveying data associated with the storage policy between thesource and destination. A storage policy can also specify the type(s) ofoperations associated with the storage policy, such as a backup,archive, snapshot, auxiliary copy, or the like. Furthermore, retentionparameters can specify how long the resulting secondary copies 116 willbe kept (e.g., a number of days, months, years, etc.), perhaps dependingon organizational needs and/or compliance criteria.

Another type of information management policy 148 is a “schedulingpolicy,” which specifies when and how often to perform operations.Scheduling parameters may specify with what frequency (e.g., hourly,weekly, daily, event-based, etc.) or under what triggering conditionssecondary copy or other information management operations are to takeplace. Scheduling policies in some cases are associated with particularcomponents, such as a subclient, client computing device 102, and thelike.

When adding a new client computing device 102, administrators canmanually configure information management policies 148 and/or othersettings, e.g., via user interface 158. However, this can be an involvedprocess resulting in delays, and it may be desirable to begin dataprotection operations quickly, without awaiting human intervention.Thus, in some embodiments, system 100 automatically applies a defaultconfiguration to client computing device 102. As one example, when oneor more data agent(s) 142 are installed on a client computing device102, the installation script may register the client computing device102 with storage manager 140, which in turn applies the defaultconfiguration to the new client computing device 102. In this manner,data protection operations can begin substantially immediately. Thedefault configuration can include a default storage policy, for example,and can specify any appropriate information sufficient to begin dataprotection operations. This can include a type of data protectionoperation, scheduling information, a target secondary storage device108, data path information (e.g., a particular media agent 144), and thelike.

Another type of information management policy 148 is an “audit policy”(or security policy), which comprises preferences, rules and/or criteriathat protect sensitive data in information management system 100. Forexample, an audit policy may define “sensitive objects” which are filesor data objects that contain particular keywords (e.g., “confidential,”or “privileged”) and/or are associated with particular keywords (e.g.,in metadata) or particular flags (e.g., in metadata identifying adocument or email as personal, confidential, etc.). An audit policy mayfurther specify rules for handling sensitive objects. As an example, anaudit policy may require that a reviewer approve the transfer of anysensitive objects to a cloud storage site, and that if approval isdenied for a particular sensitive object, the sensitive object should betransferred to a local primary storage device 104 instead. To facilitatethis approval, the audit policy may further specify how a secondarystorage computing device 106 or other system component should notify areviewer that a sensitive object is slated for transfer.

Another type of information management policy 148 is a “provisioningpolicy,” which can include preferences, priorities, rules, and/orcriteria that specify how client computing devices 102 (or groupsthereof) may utilize system resources, such as available storage oncloud storage and/or network bandwidth. A provisioning policy specifies,for example, data quotas for particular client computing devices 102(e.g., a number of gigabytes that can be stored monthly, quarterly orannually). Storage manager 140 or other components may enforce theprovisioning policy. For instance, media agents 144 may enforce thepolicy when transferring data to secondary storage devices 108. If aclient computing device 102 exceeds a quota, a budget for the clientcomputing device 102 (or associated department) may be adjustedaccordingly or an alert may trigger.

While the above types of information management policies 148 have beendescribed as separate policies, one or more of these can be generallycombined into a single information management policy 148. For instance,a storage policy may also include or otherwise be associated with one ormore scheduling, audit, or provisioning policies or operationalparameters thereof. Moreover, while storage policies are typicallyassociated with moving and storing data, other policies may beassociated with other types of information management operations. Thefollowing is a non-exhaustive list of items that information managementpolicies 148 may specify:

-   -   schedules or other timing information, e.g., specifying when        and/or how often to perform information management operations;    -   the type of secondary copy 116 and/or copy format (e.g.,        snapshot, backup, archive, HSM, etc.);    -   a location or a class or quality of storage for storing        secondary copies 116 (e.g., one or more particular secondary        storage devices 108);    -   preferences regarding whether and how to encrypt, compress,        deduplicate, or otherwise modify or transform secondary copies        116;    -   which system components and/or network pathways (e.g., preferred        media agents 144) should be used to perform secondary storage        operations;    -   resource allocation among different computing devices or other        system components used in performing information management        operations (e.g., bandwidth allocation, available storage        capacity, etc.);    -   whether and how to synchronize or otherwise distribute files or        other data objects across multiple computing devices or hosted        services; and    -   retention information specifying the length of time primary data        112 and/or secondary copies 116 should be retained, e.g., in a        particular class or tier of storage devices, or within the        system 100.

Information management policies 148 can additionally specify or dependon historical or current criteria that may be used to determine whichrules to apply to a particular data object, system component, orinformation management operation, such as:

-   -   frequency with which primary data 112 or a secondary copy 116 of        a data object or metadata has been or is predicted to be used,        accessed, or modified;    -   time-related factors (e.g., aging information such as time since        the creation or modification of a data object);    -   deduplication information (e.g., hashes, data blocks,        deduplication block size, deduplication efficiency or other        metrics);    -   an estimated or historic usage or cost associated with different        components (e.g., with secondary storage devices 108);    -   the identity of users, applications 110, client computing        devices 102 and/or other computing devices that created,        accessed, modified, or otherwise utilized primary data 112 or        secondary copies 116;    -   a relative sensitivity (e.g., confidentiality, importance) of a        data object, e.g., as determined by its content and/or metadata;    -   the current or historical storage capacity of various storage        devices;    -   the current or historical network capacity of network pathways        connecting various components within the storage operation cell;    -   access control lists or other security information; and    -   the content of a particular data object (e.g., its textual        content) or of metadata associated with the data object.

Exemplary Storage Policy and Secondary Copy Operations

FIG. 1E includes a data flow diagram depicting performance of secondarycopy operations by an embodiment of information management system 100,according to an exemplary storage policy 148A. System 100 includes astorage manager 140, a client computing device 102 having a file systemdata agent 142A and an email data agent 142B operating thereon, aprimary storage device 104, two media agents 144A, 144B, and twosecondary storage devices 108: a disk library 108A and a tape library108B. As shown, primary storage device 104 includes primary data 112A,which is associated with a logical grouping of data associated with afile system (“file system subclient”), and primary data 112B, which is alogical grouping of data associated with email (“email subclient”). Thetechniques described with respect to FIG. 1E can be utilized inconjunction with data that is otherwise organized as well.

As indicated by the dashed box, the second media agent 144B and tapelibrary 108B are “off-site,” and may be remotely located from the othercomponents in system 100 (e.g., in a different city, office building,etc.). Indeed, “off-site” may refer to a magnetic tape located in remotestorage, which must be manually retrieved and loaded into a tape driveto be read. In this manner, information stored on the tape library 108Bmay provide protection in the event of a disaster or other failure atthe main site(s) where data is stored.

The file system subclient 112A in certain embodiments generallycomprises information generated by the file system and/or operatingsystem of client computing device 102, and can include, for example,file system data (e.g., regular files, file tables, mount points, etc.),operating system data (e.g., registries, event logs, etc.), and thelike. The e-mail subclient 112B can include data generated by an e-mailapplication operating on client computing device 102, e.g., mailboxinformation, folder information, emails, attachments, associateddatabase information, and the like. As described above, the subclientscan be logical containers, and the data included in the correspondingprimary data 112A and 112B may or may not be stored contiguously.

The exemplary storage policy 148A includes backup copy preferences (orrule set) 160, disaster recovery copy preferences or rule set 162, andcompliance copy preferences or rule set 164. Backup copy rule set 160specifies that it is associated with file system subclient 166 and emailsubclient 168. Each of subclients 166 and 168 are associated with theparticular client computing device 102. Backup copy rule set 160 furtherspecifies that the backup operation will be written to disk library 108Aand designates a particular media agent 144A to convey the data to disklibrary 108A. Finally, backup copy rule set 160 specifies that backupcopies created according to rule set 160 are scheduled to be generatedhourly and are to be retained for 30 days. In some other embodiments,scheduling information is not included in storage policy 148A and isinstead specified by a separate scheduling policy.

Disaster recovery copy rule set 162 is associated with the same twosubclients 166 and 168. However, disaster recovery copy rule set 162 isassociated with tape library 108B, unlike backup copy rule set 160.Moreover, disaster recovery copy rule set 162 specifies that a differentmedia agent, namely 144B, will convey data to tape library 108B.Disaster recovery copies created according to rule set 162 will beretained for 60 days and will be generated daily. Disaster recoverycopies generated according to disaster recovery copy rule set 162 canprovide protection in the event of a disaster or other catastrophic dataloss that would affect the backup copy 116A maintained on disk library108A.

Compliance copy rule set 164 is only associated with the email subclient168, and not the file system subclient 166. Compliance copies generatedaccording to compliance copy rule set 164 will therefore not includeprimary data 112A from the file system subclient 166. For instance, theorganization may be under an obligation to store and maintain copies ofemail data for a particular period of time (e.g., 10 years) to complywith state or federal regulations, while similar regulations do notapply to file system data. Compliance copy rule set 164 is associatedwith the same tape library 108B and media agent 144B as disasterrecovery copy rule set 162, although a different storage device or mediaagent could be used in other embodiments. Finally, compliance copy ruleset 164 specifies that copies generated under compliance copy rule set164 will be retained for 10 years and will be generated quarterly.

Secondary Copy Jobs

A logical grouping of secondary copy operations governed by a rule setand being initiated at a point in time may be referred to as a“secondary copy job” and sometimes may be called a “backup job,” eventhough it is not necessarily limited to creating backup copies.Secondary copy jobs may be initiated on demand as well. Steps 1-9 belowillustrate three secondary copy jobs based on storage policy 148A.

At step 1, storage manager 140 initiates a backup job according to thebackup copy rule set 160, which logically comprises all the secondarycopy operations necessary to effectuate rules 160 in storage policy 148Aevery hour, including steps 1-4 occurring hourly. For instance, ascheduling service running on storage manager 140 accesses backup copyrule set 160 or a separate scheduling policy associated with clientcomputing device 102 and initiates a backup job on an hourly basis.Thus, at the scheduled time, storage manager 140 sends instructions toclient computing device 102 (i.e., to both data agent 142A and dataagent 142B) to begin the backup job.

At step 2, file system data agent 142A and email data agent 142Boperating on client computing device 102 respond to the instructionsreceived from storage manager 140 by accessing and processing therespective subclient primary data 112A and 112B involved in the backupcopy operation, which can be found in primary storage device 104.Because the secondary copy operation is a backup copy operation, thedata agent(s) 142A, 142B may format the data into a backup format orotherwise process the data suitable for a backup copy.

At step 3, client computing device 102 (e.g., using file system dataagent 142A) communicates the processed data to the first media agent144A according to backup copy rule set 160, as directed by storagemanager 140. Storage manager 140 may further keep a record in managementdatabase 146 of the association between media agent 144A and one or moreof: client computing device 102, file system data agent 142A, and/orbackup copy 116A.

The target media agent 144A receives the data-agent-processed data fromclient computing device 102, and at step 4 generates and conveys backupcopy 116A to disk library 108A to be stored as backup copy 116A, againat the direction of storage manager 140 and according to backup copyrule set 160. Media agent 144A can also update its index 153 to includedata and/or metadata related to backup copy 116A, such as informationindicating where the backup copy 116A resides on disk library 108A, dataand metadata for cache retrieval, etc. Storage manager 140 may similarlyupdate its index 150 to include information relating to the secondarycopy operation, such as information relating to the type of operation, aphysical location associated with one or more copies created by theoperation, the time the operation was performed, status informationrelating to the operation, the components involved in the operation, andthe like. In some cases, storage manager 140 may update its index 150 toinclude some or all of the information stored in index 153 of mediaagent 144A. At this point, the backup job may be considered complete.After the 30-day retention period expires, storage manager 140 instructsmedia agent 144A to delete backup copy 116A from disk library 108A andindexes 150 and/or 153 are updated accordingly.

At step 5, storage manager 140 initiates another backup job according tothe disaster recovery rule set 162. Illustratively this includes steps5-7 occurring daily for creating disaster recovery copy 116B. Disasterrecovery copy 166B will be based on backup copy 116A and not on primarydata 112A and 112B.

At step 6, illustratively based on instructions received from storagemanager 140 at step 5, the specified media agent 144B retrieves the mostrecent backup copy 116A from disk library 108A.

At step 7, again at the direction of storage manager 140 and asspecified in disaster recovery copy rule set 162, media agent 144B usesthe retrieved data to create a disaster recovery copy 116B and store itto tape library 108B. In some cases, disaster recovery copy 116B is adirect, mirror copy of backup copy 116A, and remains in the backupformat. In other embodiments, disaster recovery copy 116B may begenerated in some other manner, such as by using primary data 112A, 112Bfrom primary storage device 104 as source data. The disaster recoverycopy operation is initiated once a day and disaster recovery copies 116Bare deleted after 60 days; indexes 153 and/or 150 are updatedaccordingly when/after each information management operation is executedand/or completed. The present backup job may be considered to becomplete.

At step 8, storage manager 140 initiates another backup job according tocompliance rule set 164, which includes steps 8-9 occurring quarterlyfor creating compliance copy 116C. For instance, storage manager 140instructs media agent 144B to create compliance copy 116C on tapelibrary 108B, as specified in the compliance copy rule set 164.

At step 9 in the example, compliance copy 116C is generated usingdisaster recovery copy 116B as the source. In other embodiments,compliance copy 116C is instead generated using primary data 112Bcorresponding to the email subclient or using backup copy 116A from disklibrary 108A as source data. As specified in the illustrated example,compliance copies 116C are created quarterly, and are deleted after tenyears, and indexes 153 and/or 150 are kept up-to-date accordingly.

Exemplary Applications of Storaqe Policies—Information GovernancePolicies and Classification

Storage manager 140 may permit a user to specify aspects of storagepolicy 148A. For example, the storage policy can be modified to includeinformation governance policies to define how data should be managed inorder to comply with a certain regulation or business objective. Thevarious policies may be stored, for example, in management database 146.An information governance policy may align with one or more compliancetasks that are imposed by regulations or business requirements. Examplesof information governance policies might include a Sarbanes-Oxleypolicy, a HIPAA policy, an electronic discovery (e-discovery) policy,and so on.

Information governance policies allow administrators to obtain differentperspectives on an organization's online and offline data, without theneed for a dedicated data silo created solely for each differentviewpoint. As described previously, the data storage systems hereinbuild an index that reflects the contents of a distributed data set thatspans numerous clients and storage devices, including both primary dataand secondary copies, and online and offline copies. An organization mayapply multiple information governance policies in a top-down manner overthat unified data set and indexing schema in order to view andmanipulate the data set through different lenses, each of which isadapted to a particular compliance or business goal. Thus, for example,by applying an e-discovery policy and a Sarbanes-Oxley policy, twodifferent groups of users in an organization can conduct two verydifferent analyses of the same underlying physical set of data/copies,which may be distributed throughout the information management system.

An information governance policy may comprise a classification policy,which defines a taxonomy of classification terms or tags relevant to acompliance task and/or business objective. A classification policy mayalso associate a defined tag with a classification rule. Aclassification rule defines a particular combination of criteria, suchas users who have created, accessed or modified a document or dataobject; file or application types; content or metadata keywords; clientsor storage locations; dates of data creation and/or access; reviewstatus or other status within a workflow (e.g., reviewed orun-reviewed); modification times or types of modifications; and/or anyother data attributes in any combination, without limitation. Aclassification rule may also be defined using other classification tagsin the taxonomy. The various criteria used to define a classificationrule may be combined in any suitable fashion, for example, via Booleanoperators, to define a complex classification rule. As an example, ane-discovery classification policy might define a classification tag“privileged” that is associated with documents or data objects that (1)were created or modified by legal department staff, or (2) were sent toor received from outside counsel via email, or (3) contain one of thefollowing keywords: “privileged” or “attorney” or “counsel”, or otherlike terms. Accordingly, all these documents or data objects will beclassified as “privileged.”

One specific type of classification tag, which may be added to an indexat the time of indexing, is an “entity tag.” An entity tag may be, forexample, any content that matches a defined data mask format. Examplesof entity tags might include, e.g., social security numbers (e.g., anynumerical content matching the formatting mask XXX-XX-XXXX), credit cardnumbers (e.g., content having a 13-16 digit string of numbers), SKUnumbers, product numbers, etc. A user may define a classification policyby indicating criteria, parameters or descriptors of the policy via agraphical user interface, such as a form or page with fields to befilled in, pull-down menus or entries allowing one or more of severaloptions to be selected, buttons, sliders, hypertext links or other knownuser interface tools for receiving user input, etc. For example, a usermay define certain entity tags, such as a particular product number orproject ID code that is relevant in the organization. In someimplementations, the classification policy can be implemented usingcloud-based techniques. For example, the storage devices may be cloudstorage devices, and the storage manager 140 may execute cloud serviceprovider API over a network to classify data stored on cloud storagedevices.

Restore Operations from Secondary Copies

While not shown in FIG. 1E, at some later point in time, a restoreoperation can be initiated involving one or more of secondary copies116A, 116B, 116C. A restore operation logically takes a selectedsecondary copy 116, reverses the effects of the secondary copy operationthat created it, and stores the restored data to primary storage where aclient computing device 102 may properly access it as primary data. Amedia agent 144 and an appropriate data agent 142 (e.g., executing onthe client computing device 102) perform the tasks needed to complete arestore operation. For example, data that was encrypted, compressed,and/or deduplicated in the creation of secondary copy 116 will becorrespondingly rehydrated (reversing deduplication), uncompressed, andunencrypted into a format appropriate to primary data. In general,restored data should be indistinguishable from other primary data 112.Preferably, the restored data has fully regained the native format thatmay make it immediately usable by application 110.

As one example, a user may manually initiate a restore of backup copy116A, e.g., by interacting with user interface 158 of storage manager140 or with a web-based console with access to system 100. Storagemanager 140 may accesses data in its index 150 and/or managementdatabase 146 (and/or the respective storage policy 148A) associated withthe selected backup copy 116A to identify the appropriate media agent144A and/or secondary storage device 108A where the secondary copyresides. The user may be presented with a representation (e.g., stub,thumbnail, listing, etc.) and metadata about the selected secondarycopy, in order to determine whether this is the appropriate copy to berestored, e.g., date that the original primary data was created. Storagemanager 140 will then instruct media agent 144A and an appropriate dataagent 142 to restore secondary copy 116A to primary storage device 104.A media agent may be selected for use in the restore operation based ona load balancing algorithm, an availability based algorithm, or othercriteria. The selected media agent, e.g., 144A, retrieves secondary copy116A from disk library 108A. For instance, media agent 144A may accessits index 153 to identify a location of backup copy 116A on disk library108A, or may access location information residing on disk library 108Aitself.

In some cases when backup copy 116A was recently created or accessed,caching may speed up the restore operation. In such a case, media agent144A accesses a cached version of backup copy 116A residing in index153, without having to access disk library 108A for some or all of thedata. Once it has retrieved backup copy 116A, the media agent 144Acommunicates the data to the requesting client computing device 102.Upon receipt, file system data agent 142A and email data agent 142B mayunpackage (e.g., restore from a backup format to the native applicationformat) the data in backup copy 116A and restore the unpackaged data toprimary storage device 104. In general, secondary copies 116 may berestored to the same volume or folder in primary storage device 104 fromwhich the secondary copy was derived; to another storage location orclient computing device 102; to shared storage. In some cases the datamay be restored so that it may be used by an application 110 of adifferent version/vintage from the application that created the originalprimary data 112.

Exemplary Secondary Copy Formatting

The formatting and structure of secondary copies 116 can vary dependingon the embodiment. In some cases, secondary copies 116 are formatted asa series of logical data units or “chunks” (e.g., 512 MB, 1 GB, 2 GB, 4GB, or 8 GB chunks). This can facilitate efficient communication andwriting to secondary storage devices 108, e.g., according to resourceavailability. For example, a single secondary copy 116 may be written ona chunk-by-chunk basis to one or more secondary storage devices 108. Insome cases, users can select different chunk sizes, e.g., to improvethroughput to tape storage devices. Generally, each chunk can include aheader and a payload. The payload can include files (or other dataunits) or subsets thereof included in the chunk, whereas the chunkheader generally includes metadata relating to the chunk, some or all ofwhich may be derived from the payload. For example, during a secondarycopy operation, media agent 144, storage manager 140, or other componentmay divide files into chunks and generate headers for each chunk byprocessing the files. The headers can include a variety of informationsuch as file identifier(s), volume(s), offset(s), or other informationassociated with the payload data items, a chunk sequence number, etc.Importantly, in addition to being stored with secondary copy 116 onsecondary storage device 108, the chunk headers can also be stored toindex 153 of the associated media agent(s) 144 and/or to index 150associated with storage manager 140. This can be useful in some casesfor providing faster processing of secondary copies 116 during browsing,restores, or other operations. In some cases, once a chunk issuccessfully transferred to a secondary storage device 108, thesecondary storage device 108 returns an indication of receipt, e.g., tomedia agent 144 and/or storage manager 140, which may update theirrespective indexes 153, 150 accordingly. During restore, chunks may beprocessed (e.g., by media agent 144) according to the information in thechunk header to reassemble the files.

Data can also be communicated within system 100 in data channels thatconnect client computing devices 102 to secondary storage devices 108.These data channels can be referred to as “data streams”, and multipledata streams can be employed to parallelize an information managementoperation, improving data transfer rate, among other advantages. Exampledata formatting techniques including techniques involving datastreaming, chunking, and the use of other data structures in creatingsecondary copies are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,315,923, 8,156,086,and 8,578,120.

FIGS. 1F and 1G are diagrams of example data streams 170 and 171,respectively, which may be employed for performing informationmanagement operations. Referring to FIG. 1F, data agent 142 forms datastream 170 from source data associated with a client computing device102 (e.g., primary data 112). Data stream 170 is composed of multiplepairs of stream header 172 and stream data (or stream payload) 174. Datastreams 170 and 171 shown in the illustrated example are for asingle-instanced storage operation, and a stream payload 174 thereforemay include both single-instance (SI) data and/or non-SI data. A streamheader 172 includes metadata about the stream payload 174. This metadatamay include, for example, a length of the stream payload 174, anindication of whether the stream payload 174 is encrypted, an indicationof whether the stream payload 174 is compressed, an archive fileidentifier (ID), an indication of whether the stream payload 174 issingle instanceable, and an indication of whether the stream payload 174is a start of a block of data.

Referring to FIG. 1G, data stream 171 has the stream header 172 andstream payload 174 aligned into multiple data blocks. In this example,the data blocks are of size 64 KB. The first two stream header 172 andstream payload 174 pairs comprise a first data block of size 64 KB. Thefirst stream header 172 indicates that the length of the succeedingstream payload 174 is 63 KB and that it is the start of a data block.The next stream header 172 indicates that the succeeding stream payload174 has a length of 1 KB and that it is not the start of a new datablock. Immediately following stream payload 174 is a pair comprising anidentifier header 176 and identifier data 178. The identifier header 176includes an indication that the succeeding identifier data 178 includesthe identifier for the immediately previous data block. The identifierdata 178 includes the identifier that the data agent 142 generated forthe data block. The data stream 171 also includes other stream header172 and stream payload 174 pairs, which may be for SI data and/or non-SIdata.

FIG. 1H is a diagram illustrating data structures 180 that may be usedto store blocks of SI data and non-SI data on a storage device (e.g.,secondary storage device 108). According to certain embodiments, datastructures 180 do not form part of a native file system of the storagedevice. Data structures 180 include one or more volume folders 182, oneor more chunk folders 184/185 within the volume folder 182, and multiplefiles within chunk folder 184. Each chunk folder 184/185 includes ametadata file 186/187, a metadata index file 188/189, one or morecontainer files 190/191/193, and a container index file 192/194.Metadata file 186/187 stores non-SI data blocks as well as links to SIdata blocks stored in container files. Metadata index file 188/189stores an index to the data in the metadata file 186/187. Containerfiles 190/191/193 store SI data blocks. Container index file 192/194stores an index to container files 190/19 ¹/₁ 93. Among other things,container index file 192/194 stores an indication of whether acorresponding block in a container file 190/191/193 is referred to by alink in a metadata file 186/187. For example, data block B2 in thecontainer file 190 is referred to by a link in metadata file 187 inchunk folder 185. Accordingly, the corresponding index entry incontainer index file 192 indicates that data block B2 in container file190 is referred to. As another example, data block B1 in container file191 is referred to by a link in metadata file 187, and so thecorresponding index entry in container index file 192 indicates thatthis data block is referred to.

As an example, data structures 180 illustrated in FIG. 1H may have beencreated as a result of separate secondary copy operations involving twoclient computing devices 102. For example, a first secondary copyoperation on a first client computing device 102 could result in thecreation of the first chunk folder 184, and a second secondary copyoperation on a second client computing device 102 could result in thecreation of the second chunk folder 185. Container files 190/191 in thefirst chunk folder 184 would contain the blocks of SI data of the firstclient computing device 102. If the two client computing devices 102have substantially similar data, the second secondary copy operation onthe data of the second client computing device 102 would result in mediaagent 144 storing primarily links to the data blocks of the first clientcomputing device 102 that are already stored in the container files190/191. Accordingly, while a first secondary copy operation may resultin storing nearly all of the data subject to the operation, subsequentsecondary storage operations involving similar data may result insubstantial data storage space savings, because links to already storeddata blocks can be stored instead of additional instances of datablocks.

If the operating system of the secondary storage computing device 106 onwhich media agent 144 operates supports sparse files, then when mediaagent 144 creates container files 190/191/193, it can create them assparse files. A sparse file is a type of file that may include emptyspace (e.g., a sparse file may have real data within it, such as at thebeginning of the file and/or at the end of the file, but may also haveempty space in it that is not storing actual data, such as a contiguousrange of bytes all having a value of zero). Having container files190/191/193 be sparse files allows media agent 144 to free up space incontainer files 190/191/193 when blocks of data in container files190/191/193 no longer need to be stored on the storage devices. In someexamples, media agent 144 creates a new container file 190/191/193 whena container file 190/191/193 either includes 100 blocks of data or whenthe size of the container file 190 exceeds 50 MB. In other examples,media agent 144 creates a new container file 190/191/193 when acontainer file 190/191/193 satisfies other criteria (e.g., it containsfrom approximately 100 to approximately 1000 blocks or when its sizeexceeds approximately 50 MB to 1 GB). In some cases, a file on which asecondary copy operation is performed may comprise a large number ofdata blocks. For example, a 100 MB file may comprise 400 data blocks ofsize 256 KB. If such a file is to be stored, its data blocks may spanmore than one container file, or even more than one chunk folder. Asanother example, a database file of 20 GB may comprise over 40,000 datablocks of size 512 KB. If such a database file is to be stored, its datablocks will likely span multiple container files, multiple chunkfolders, and potentially multiple volume folders. Restoring such filesmay require accessing multiple container files, chunk folders, and/orvolume folders to obtain the requisite data blocks.

Automated Intelligent Provisioning of Data Storage Resources in Responseto User Requests

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating some salient portions of a datastorage management system 200 for intelligent provisioning of datastorage resources in response to end-user requests, according to anillustrative embodiment of the present invention. Data storagemanagement system 200 (“system 200”) may be an embodiment of aninformation management system comprising enhanced functionality asdisclosed herein. System 200 comprises: client computing device 102;secondary storage computing device 206, comprising media agent 244; webconsole server 230, comprising end-user user interface 231; storagemanager 240, comprising management database 246, media manager 260, andadministrator user interface 262; and data storage devices 254, 255, and256. The components are logically interconnected as shown by the arrows.The physical communications infrastructure required to support theselogical connections is well known in the art and may be any suitableelectronic communications infrastructure, such as described in regard tocommunication pathways 114 above.

Client computing device 102, which is described in further detailelsewhere herein, is depicted here with an end-user. The term “end-user”is utilized in respect to the illustrative embodiment to distinguishfrom a user who may have administrative privileges to system 200 and maybe generally referred to as an “administrator.” Accordingly, thedepicted end-user may access and use such utilities of system 200 thatare available to end-users, e.g., an end-user interface 231 for handlingstorage requests. However, the depicted end-user lacks administrativeprivileges and therefore lacks access to elements of system 200 that arereserved to administrators, such as administering clients, data agents,media agents, storage devices, and information management policies. Infact, the end-user and associated client computing device(s) 102 may besubject to information management policies that govern how theend-user's data will be protected and managed in system 200. In general,end-users lack control over the governing information managementpolicies, which are established and maintained by administrators. In theillustrative scenario presented here, the depicted end-user will submitrequests to system 200 for data storage resources that are managed andcontrolled by system 200.

Secondary storage computing device 206 is analogous to secondary storagecomputing device 106 and additionally comprises enhanced functionalityfor operating in system 200, e.g., media agent 244 comprisingauto-provisioning processing logic 245. Secondary storage computingdevice 206 hosts Media agent 244.

Web console server 230 is a computing device that may be configured toprovide web access to certain aspects of system 200. For example, webconsole server 230 may serve an end-user interface for automatedprovisioning 231, which is directed at end-users such as the onedepicted here, and which the end-user may access via client computingdevice 102. As shown here, server 230 communicates with storage manager240; furthermore end-user interface 231 presents data obtained from andsubmits inputs to storage manager 240. In some embodiments, end-userinterface 231 may be hosted by and served from storage manager 240.

Storage manager 240 manages system 200. Storage manager 240 is analogousto storage manager 140 and further comprises additional functionalityfor operating in system 200, e.g., administrator user interface 262,media manager 260 comprising auto-provisioning logic 261, informationmanagement policy(ies) 247, and may also serve and/or service end-userinterface 231. In reference to the illustrative embodiment of thepresent invention, storage manager 240 may generally perform one or moreof the following operations, in any combination, without limitation:

-   -   administration of storage devices such as storage arrays 254-256        (e.g., using admin user interface 262) and storing administered        metadata to management database 246;    -   automatically discovering operational characteristics of        installed/administered data storage devices, e.g., type of        storage technology, data storage interconnect protocol, make and        model of storage device, storage capacity, provisionable data        storage entity (e.g., logical unit number (“LUN”)) count        capacity, input/output speed of the storage device, etc.;    -   importing storage information about pre-existing in-use data        storage devices which may already provide storage resources for        client computing device components in the system;    -   maintaining a logical pool of available storage devices, e.g.,        254-256, and their respective discovered operational        characteristics, including keeping track of currently assigned        and unassigned storage space;    -   administration of information management policies 247 (e.g.,        using admin user interface 262) that govern automated        provisioning of data storage resources in response to end-user        requests;    -   storing information management policies 247 to management        database 246;    -   receiving and processing requests submitted by end-users        requesting data storage space, including instructing media        agent(s) to provision requested storage space, assigning the        provisioned storage space to the requesting end-user and        granting access thereto;    -   tracking usage of the storage devices in the pool and using        measures of usage to decide which data storage device may best        respond to an end-user request;    -   tracking expiration timeframes for data storage resources        assigned in response to end-user requests, e.g., default system        timeframe, timeframe specified by the governing information        management policy 247, timeframe provided in the end-user's        request, etc.;    -   withdrawing access to provisioned storage space after the        applicable expiration timeframe expires, which may be        accompanied by one or more of: notices and/or warnings to the        end-user; enabling the end-user to extend the expiration        timeframe; and/or otherwise working around the timeframe before        withdrawing access; and    -   releasing expired storage space back to the pool of available        data storage devices and updating the tracking thereof, e.g., in        management database 246.

Media agent 244 is analogous to media agent 144 and additionallycomprises functionality for operating in system 200, e.g.,auto-provisioning logic 245. In reference to the illustrative embodimentof the present invention, media agent 244 may generally perform one ormore of the following operations in regard to one or more data storagedevices that are administratively associated with the respective mediaagent, in any combination, without limitation:

-   -   receiving instructions from storage manager 240 to discover        operational characteristics of one or more associated data        storage devices (e.g., 254-256) targeted by the storage manager;    -   communicating with the target data storage devices to implement        the received instructions and extract operational        characteristics;    -   reporting the discovered operational characteristics to storage        manager 240;    -   receiving instructions from storage manager 240 to provision a        given amount of storage space in a target data storage device,        e.g., LUN B1 in storage array B 255 in the amount of 1 GB of        storage space;    -   communicating with the target data storage device to implement        the received instructions and get the storage space provisioned,        e.g., instructing a storage array to reserve a LUN, etc.;    -   reporting and/or confirming to storage manager 240 whether the        storage space has been successfully provisioned at the target        data storage device;    -   receiving instructions from storage manager 240 to release a        certain provisioned storage space, e.g., LUN B1;    -   communicating with the target data storage device to implement        the received instructions and get the storage space        appropriately released and marked as available at the data        storage device;    -   reporting and/or confirming to storage manager 240 whether the        storage space has been successfully released at the target data        storage device.

In short, media agent 244 plays a key role in the automatic intelligentprovisioning of data storage resources according to the illustrativeembodiment, but generally performs operations as instructed by storagemanager 240. In some alternative embodiments, media agent 244 may haveadditional responsibilities, such as tracking locally which storagespace(s) in a target data storage device have been assigned and whichones are available for assignment; this information may be maintained inan enhanced version of media agent index cache 153 as an exampleimplementation.

Management database 246 is analogous to management database 146 and ispart of or otherwise associated with storage manager 240. Managementdatabase 246 stores key information about system 200 that is used bystorage manager 240 to manage system 200. In particular reference to theillustrative embodiment, management database. 246 may comprise one ormore of the following without limitation: information managementpolicies 247; operational characteristics of data storage devices whichwere automatically discovered by and/or under the direction of storagemanager 240; the pool of available data storage devices, as well asmeasures of usage and tracking information about assigned and unassigneddata storage space; etc.

Media manager 260 is a functional module of storage manager 240, whichis generally concerned with operations involving access to storagedevices in system 200, and may be implemented as executable softwareand/or firmware, which executes on the underlying computing device thathosts storage manager 240. Illustratively, media manager 260 comprisesspecial-purpose logic 261 for handling some of the auto-provisioningoperations according to the illustrative embodiment. Auto-provisioninglogic 261 may be generally responsible for all or part of the operationsenumerated above in regard to the enhanced functionality of storagemanager 240 in system 200, e.g., automatically discovering operationalcharacteristics of installed/administered data storage devices;maintaining the pool of available storage devices and trackingunused/unassigned storage space; receiving and processing end-userrequests, including instructing media agent(s), assigning provisionedstorage space and granting access thereto; etc., without limitation.

Media manager 260 and auto-provisioning logic 261 are shown herein asdistinct components to ease understanding of the present disclosure,however, alternative embodiments are also possible within the scope ofthe present invention. For example, these functional components may belayered on existing storage manager code, may be linked to storagemanager code, may be logical constructs whose functionality isdistributed through one or more other functional modules of the storagemanager, such as management agent 154, and in any combination thereof.Likewise in respect to administrator user interface 262 and end-userinterface 231, which may be implemented as enhancements to existinginterfaces that are directed at administrators and end-users,respectively.

Administrator user interface 262 provides a system administrator with auser interface for performing one or more of the following operationswithout limitation: administering data storage devices (e.g., 254-256)as storage components of system 200; administering informationmanagement policies 247; terminating a storage space assignment.

Data storage devices 254, 255, and 256 are, illustratively, storagearrays. Data storage device 254 is identified as storage array A. Datastorage device 255 is identified as storage array B and comprises alogical unit number (“LUN”) designated B1, which is assigned to andaccessed by client computing device 102 according to the illustrativeembodiment. Data storage device 256 is identified as storage array C andcomprises a LUN designated C1, which is assigned to and accessed byclient computing device 102 according to the illustrative embodiment.Data storage devices 254, 255, and 256 may be storage arrays ofdifferent types and/or using different underlying media (e.g., optical,hard disk, flash, etc.) and/or having different total storage capacityand/or different LUN count capacities. Data storage devices 254, 255,and 256 may be of different manufacture, e.g., NetApp, Dell EqualLogic,IBM XIV, etc. without limitation. Data storage devices 254, 255, and 256may possess other distinguishing operational characteristics, such asdifferent I/O speeds, storage interconnect protocols (e.g., iSCSI, FC),storage space capacity, number of provisionable data storage entitiessuch as LUNs, geography/location identifier, etc., without limitation,all of which may be automatically discovered as directed by storagemanager 240 according to the illustrative embodiment.

In some alternative embodiments, a storage device such as 254, 255,and/or 255 may be a cloud-based storage resource, which, like storagearrays, has discoverable operational characteristics that may berelevant and useful for automated intelligent provisioning as disclosedherein. In some embodiments, a storage device such as 254, 255, and/or255 may be a Common Internet File System (“CIFS”) storage device or aNetwork File System (“NFS”) storage device. Any combination andpermutation of storage arrays, cloud-based storage, CIFS, NFS, and otherstorage devices may be provisioned as disclosed herein.

System 200 may further comprise any number of the depicted components aswell as other components described elsewhere herein, e.g., other clientcomputing devices 102, tape libraries 108, media agents 144, etc.Notably, a given end-user may be associated with or use any number ofclient computing devices 102, and system 200 may accommodate suchend-users by allowing assigned storage space to be mapped (e.g., using a“map” command or equivalent) to more than one client computing device102 as needed. For example, a cluster of client computing devices 102may all map to and access a given auto-provisioned storage space, e.g.,LUN B1. For example, an end-user may activate a “map” command (orequivalent) at a first client computing device 102 that maps an assignedstorage space, e.g., LUN C1, to the first client computing device 102,may then activate an “unmap” command (or equivalent) that unmaps LUN C1,followed by another “map” to a different client computing device 102.According to the illustrative embodiment, mapping and unmapping (orequivalent operations) will not destroy the data stored in the assignedstorage space, e.g., LUN C1, until a termination or release eventoccurs, such as when the end-user affirmatively releases the assignedstorage space or when an expiration timeframe passes. The methods insubsequent figures describe these operations and system behaviors inmore detail.

FIG. 3 depicts some salient operations of a method 300 operating insystem 200 according to an illustrative embodiment of the presentinvention. Method 300 is generally directed at administration andauto-discovery operations performed by system 200.

At block 302, a storage manager (e.g., 240) may receive administeredinformation for one or more storage devices (e.g., storage devices 254,255, 256) added to system 200; this information may be entered by asystem administrator (e.g., via administrator user interface 262) andmay take the form of metadata, such as a designation for the storagedevice, an IP address, an association between the storage device and amedia agent (e.g., 244), etc. Storage manager 240 may store the metadatato management database 246. For example, the association between a datastorage device and a media agent 244 will be used in subsequentoperations for accessing the respective data storage device inauto-discovery and auto-provisioning operations. The administrativeinformation entered by the system administrator may include anindication of whether a given data storage device may be used in system200 for automatic intelligent provisioning based on end-user requests asdisclosed herein. In some systems, administrators may wish to restrictthe pool of storage devices that may be auto-provisioned for end-users.

At block 304, system 200 may automatically discover (e.g., usingauto-provisioning logic 261) operational characteristics of theadministered storage devices according to the illustrative embodiment.For example, after a given data storage device has been administered andis recognized by storage manager 240 as a component of system 200,storage manager 240 may initiate one or more discovery operations viathe media agent associated with the respective data storage device. Forexample, storage manager 240 may instruct media agent 244 to communicatewith a target data storage device (e.g., 254) and obtain operationalcharacteristics therefrom, e.g., total storage capacity of the storagedevice, type of storage technology (e.g., block-based, cloud, CIFS, NFS,etc.), storage interconnect protocol (e.g., FC, iSCSI, etc.), number ofprovisionable entities available (e.g., LUNs), input/output (“I/O”)speed, etc.), amount of cache, manufacturer, model, geography/locationdesignation, IP address, etc. in any combination without limitation. Inresponse to the instructions received from storage manager 240, mediaagent 244 (e.g., using auto-provisioning logic 245) may communicate withthe target data storage device to obtain the information and will thenreport results to storage manager 240. According to the illustrativeembodiment, the discovery operations occur automatically without furtherintervention from system administrator(s). This is advantageous, notonly because it saves extra effort on the part of the systemadministrator, but also because the system administrator need not knowor have the skillset required to figure out which operationalcharacteristics are relevant for automatic intelligent provisioning;instead, storage manager 240 orchestrates the media agent(s) 244 tocollect and report back relevant operational characteristics of thevarious data storage devices.

At block 305, storage manager 240 may import (e.g., usingauto-provisioning logic 261) information about the usage profiles of theadministered storage devices. This might occur when the data storagedevices are already in use in the system (e.g., prior to a systemupgrade). In such a scenario, storage space in a given data storagedevice such as 254 may be assigned to and in use by any number of clientcomputing devices 102 in system 200. At the present block, storagemanager 240 automatically discovers such usage information (e.g., ausage profile for the data storage device), for example by consultingmanagement database 246 and/or media agent(s) that are associated withthe respective data storage device and which can provide details abouthow the storage space in the data storage device is allocated, assigned,accessed, and used, and by which particular computing devices. Forexample, storage manager 240 may discover which provisionable storagespace entities (e.g., LUNs) are already assigned in the data storagedevice and may further discover associations between assigned storagespace and client computing device(s) 102 and/or end-users that accessdata in the respective storage spaces. This information is said to beimported into the illustrative system. Accordingly, storage manager 240may harmonize the imported information with the auto-discoveredoperational characteristics collected in the preceding block (e.g.,using auto-provisioning logic 261), thus resulting in consistent dataand data structures that carry information about the data storagedevices in the system, whether in reference to pre-existing in use datastorage device or newly installed ones; the harmonized information maybe stored accordingly to management database 246.

Furthermore, storage manager 240 may go beyond importing and storing theimported information and may integrate it with information managementpolicies 247, as described in further detail in regard to block 308.

At block 306, storage manager 240 may store (e.g., usingauto-provisioning logic 261) imported usage information andauto-discovered operational characteristics (e.g., received from mediaagents 244) to management database 246. This information will be usedlater for responding to end-user requests for storage resources.

At block 308, storage manager 240 may add an information managementpolicy (e.g., 247) to govern end-user-requested storage provisioning forone or more client computing devices 102. Policies 247 may be used tocontrol how storage access may be provided and to whom, thus shaping thecontours of how auto-provisioning operates in system 200 in response toend-user requests. Policies 247 may be administered by a systemadministrator (e.g., via administrator user interface 262). The systemadministrator may provide certain permissions and constraints—in theform of one or more policies 247—relative to the data storage devicesthat could be used in system 200 for end-user-requested storage.

A policy 247 will generally associate a pool of data storage deviceswith a number of users and/or computing devices. For example, a systemadministrator may allow certain end-users and/or client computingdevices 102 to submit storage requests, e.g., testers and members of acertain corporate department, certain machines in a development lab,etc. For example, a system administrator may restrict access bygeography, e.g., associating allowed end-users with data storage devicesat the same location or on the same floor or in the same lab. Forexample, a policy 247 may include an expiration timeframe that willdetermine when the assigned storage space will be withdrawn from therequesting end-user and/or client computing device, e.g., 90 days. Forexample, a policy 247 may also include usage-level thresholds that willhave the effect of directing the choice of data storage device based ona measure of usage of the data storage device candidates in the pool.For instance, a usage-level threshold of 50% may be specified in policy247 such that a given data storage device will not be chosen in responseto an end-user request when more than 50% of its capacity is alreadyassigned; instead, another data storage device specified in policy 247,which is less used, will be chosen to allow for a more balanceddistribution of data storage assignments. The presence of one or moreusage thresholds in a policy 247 means that storage manager 240 isfurther responsible for tracking usage and assigned storage capacity inthe respective data storage devices (e.g., using auto-provisioning logic261); alternatively usage may be tracked by the associated media agent244 (e.g., using auto-provisioning logic 245) and reported to storagemanager 240.

As noted earlier, storage manager 240 may go beyond merely importing andstoring the imported information regarding pre-existing in-use datastorage devices and may integrate the imported information withinformation management policies 247. For example, an importedassociation between an assigned storage space (e.g., hosted by storagearray C) and a client computing device 102 and/or end-user may beimported into an information management policy 247, such that thehosting data storage device becomes subject to and is governed by policy247 on a going-forward basis. Illustratively, when storage manager 240analyzes a data storage device for usage in the course of trying tosatisfy an end-user request, the pre-existing in-use storage space willbe part of the analysis, because it is governed by policy 247. As aresult, illustratively, a heavily used data storage device that wasimported into the illustrative system will tend to receive fewer or nonew storage space assignments in response to end-user requests ascompared to other data storage devices that are more lightly used andcan still satisfy a given request. For example, if policy 247 has anexpiration timeframe, the pre-existing in-use storage space will besubjected to the expiration timeframe along with the other storagespaces assigned under the policy 247. For example, warnings of impedingexpiration may be sent to respective end-users. The effect of theimportation functionality, as described in regard to blocks 305 and 308and elsewhere herein, advantageously provides a broader umbrella ofcontrol over data storage devices in system 200, whether they werepreviously in use or newly added to the system.

After block 308, method 300 may end or control may pass back to block302 for support of any number of additional data storage devices. Thereis no limit to the number of policies 247, number of data storagedevices, number of associated end-users, and/or number of computingdevices that may be operating in system 200.

FIG. 4 depicts some salient operations of a method 400 operating insystem 200 according to an illustrative embodiment of the presentinvention. Method 400 is generally directed at automated intelligentprovisioning of storage space in system 200 in response to end-userrequests for data storage space. The processing of end-user requestsaccording to the illustrative embodiment advantageously streamlines theend-user experience and requires no further intervention from systemadministrators. Thus, after system 200 has been administered to includecertain data storage devices and policies 247 (see, e.g., method 300),end-users may obtain storage space with minimal effort, having no needto investigate which data storage devices are available and requiring nofurther help from system administrators (see, e.g., method 500).Likewise, system administrators need not investigate availability andoperational characteristics of installed data storage devices. Instead,system 200 processes end-user requests and automatically handlesprovisioning of suitable storage space and tracks the assigned storagespace.

At block 402, storage manager 240 may receive (e.g., via end-userinterface 231) an end-user request for storage resources. The requestmay be very simple and limited to an amount of storage space, e.g., 1GB. The request may comprise additional parameters, such as type ofstorage technology (e.g., block-based, cloud, CIFS, NFS, etc.), storageinterconnect protocol (e.g., FC, iSCSI, etc.), input/output (“I/O”)speed, etc.), amount of cache, manufacturer, model, expirationtimeframe, etc. The request may also comprise a desired designationdefined by the end-user for referring to the storage space, e.g.,“LUN4TESTINGonHOST1,” “LUN5forCLUSTER1,” etc.

At block 404, storage manager 240 (e.g., using auto-provisioning logic261) may process the end-user's request to identify a storage devicethat can satisfy the request. The processing is based on governingpolicy 247, operational characteristics of the storage device, andtracking performed by storage manager 240. For example, a policy 247that allows the requesting end-user access to storage devices 254-256may also include a usage threshold of 60%. Illustratively, based on themeasure of usage, storage manager 240 may choose data storage device 255(storage array B) over data storage device 254 (storage array A). Forexample, storage manager 240 may choose data storage device 256 (storagearray C) because it is the only storage device with sufficient availablestorage space to satisfy the request. Any number of resultingcombinations and permutations are possible, depending on the specificsof the end-user's request, the policy 247 that controls which storagedevices may be available to user, the operational characteristics of theallowed storage devices, and other situational data being tracked bystorage manager 240, e.g., measures of usage.

At block 406, storage manager 240 (e.g., using auto-provisioning logic261) may prepare and transmit provisioning instructions to media agent244 associated with the identified storage device, including for examplea designation of the requested storage resource (e.g., LUN ID), amountof requested storage space (e.g., 1 GB), etc.

At block 408, media agent 244 (e.g., using auto-provisioning logic 245)may process the instructions received from storage manager 240 andinstruct the identified storage device to set up a storage resource,e.g., LUN B1 on storage array B 255 in the amount of 1 GB.

At block 410, media agent 244 (e.g., using auto-provisioning logic 245)may confirm the completed set-up to storage manager 240.

At block 412, storage manager 240 (e.g., using auto-provisioning logic261) may update management database 246, and may confirm the completedset-up to the requesting end-user and assign the storage resourceaccordingly. For example, storage manager 240 may generate and store tomanagement database 246 an association between the requesting end-userand/or client computing device 102 and the assigned storage space. Oncethe storage space has been set up at the storage device and confirmed tothe requesting end-user, the space is said to be assigned or reserved inaccordance with the request. At this point, the end-user may access theassigned storage space, as described in further detail in regard tomethod 500.

At block 414, storage manager 240 (e.g., using auto-provisioning logic261) may track the assigned storage resource until the assignmentexpires. For example, storage manager 240 may track an expirationtimeframe, which may be a system-wide default value, may be specified inpolicy 247, or may be requested by the end-user. Depending on theimplementation, end-user-requested timeframes may prevail overtimeframes specified in a governing policy 247. In some embodiments, thesystem default or policy 247 may prevail over the end-user-suppliedexpiration timeframe. Storage manager 240 may remind the requestingend-user of upcoming expiration for the assigned storage resource andmay accept extensions of time supplied by the end-user (e.g., usingend-user interface 231). Storage manager 240 also may track the usage ofthe hosting data storage device, e.g., storage array B 255, as describedelsewhere.

Method 400 may end or control may pass back to block 402 for processingother end-user requests for storage resources. There is no limit to thenumber of end-user requests, number of assigned storage resources (e.g.,LUN B1, LUN C1, etc.) and/or number of data storage devices that may beused for intelligent automatic provisioning in response to end-userrequests according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 depicts some salient operations of a method 500 operating insystem 200 according to an illustrative embodiment of the presentinvention. Method 500 is generally directed at the end-user experiencein system 200 and at handling of termination triggers forauto-provisioned storage space.

At block 502, an end-user who submitted a request for data storageresources (see, e.g., block 402) may receive confirmation (e.g., viaend-user interface 231) of completed auto-provisioning of the requestedstorage space, e.g., LUN B1 in the amount of 1 GB of storage space. Theconfirmation may be issued by storage manager 240 (see, e.g., block412), and may comprise an identifier for the assigned storage space,e.g., a designation requested by the end-user (see, e.g., block 402) ora designation automatically generated by storage manager 240, e.g.,“AutoLUN1,” etc. The confirmation may further comprise other operationalcharacteristics of the assigned space, which may have been part of theend-user's request, e.g., type of storage technology, storageinterconnect protocol, I/O speed, manufacturer, model, etc. withoutlimitation. The confirmation may further comprise additional detailsabout the assigned storage resource such as an identifier of the datastorage device that hosts the assigned storage space (e.g., name, IPaddress, etc.); an applicable expiration timeframe (e.g., established bythe requester or by the system); other operational characteristics aboutthe hosting data storage device (e.g., from management database 246);etc. without limitation. In some embodiments, the confirmation appearsto the end-user upon login to the web console (e.g., via end-userinterface 231) as a “Ready” message such as “LUN4TESTINGonHOST1 isReady.”

At block 504, having received a confirmation that the storage space isassigned, the end-user may activate a “map” command to map theauto-provisioned storage resource to a client computing device 102,thereby gaining access to the storage resource. Mapping a storageresource such as a LUN to a client computing device for the purpose ofgaining access to the storage resource is well known in the art and insome embodiments the actual command or series of commands may carry adifferent designation (e.g., using mount points in the UNIX world ascompared to mapping a drive in the Microsoft Windows world). Any “map”or equivalent operation is supported by system 200.

At block 506, the client computing device 102 that maps theauto-provisioned storage resource, e.g., LUN B1, may use it to store andretrieve data, access data, delete data therein, etc. Moreover, therequesting end-user also may modify the expiration timeframe of theassigned auto-provisioned storage resource, e.g., via end-user interface231. An expiration timeframe also may be modified by an administrator(e.g., using administrator user interface 262). Control may pass toblock 512 if an expiration timeframe passes before reaching block 508.

At block 508, LUN B1 may be unmapped (or equivalent) from clientcomputing device 102, thus severing the client computing device from thestorage space in LUN B1. Although the storage space in LUN B1 is stillassigned at this point and still comprises data, client computing device102 no longer has access thereto, unless LUN B1 is re-mapped (orequivalent) as described at block 504. At block 504, LUN B1 may bemapped (or equivalent) to one or more other client computing devices102—so long as the association is allowed by the governing policy 247.

At block 510, which may follow block 508, the end-user may requestdeletion of LUN B1 as a storage resource (e.g., using end-user interface231). This affirmative request causes system 200 to unassign the storagespace set aside in LUN B1 and to release the storage space for otheruses. This request is processed at block 514.

At block 512, which may follow block 508, an expiration event may occurbased on an expiration timeframe. The expiration event is processed atblock 514.

At block 514, storage manager 240 may release the storage resource,e.g., LUN B1, back to the hosting storage device, e.g., storage array B.In a reversal of the operations of blocks 406-410, storage manager 240and media agent 244 that is associated with the hosting data storagedevice may delete the storage space of LUN B1 and may reconfigure it asavailable space in the storage device. Furthermore, storage manager 240may update its tracking of available resources in management database246, e.g., a pool of available data storage devices. Block 514 has theeffect of ending the assignment of the storage resource LUN B1 to therequesting end-user and/or client computing device 102 and restoring thestorage space to a pool of available data storage devices that are to bemade accessible in response to further requests for data storage space.The released/restored storage space may now be assigned to otherrequesting end-users and/or client computing devices 102 withoutlimitation. Method 500 may end here or control may pass back to block502 for processing operations for any number of other end-users ofsystem 200, without limitation.

In regard to the figures described herein, other embodiments arepossible within the scope of the present invention, such that theabove-recited components, steps, blocks, operations, and/ormessages/requests/queries/instructions are differently arranged,sequenced, sub-divided, organized, and/or combined. In some embodiments,a different component may initiate or execute a given operation.

Example Embodiments

According to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention, amethod may comprise: receiving, by a storage manager component thatmanages a data storage management system, a user-submitted request for afirst amount of data storage to be used as a data storage resource inthe data storage management system; identifying, by the storage manager,a first data storage device in the data storage management system thatsatisfies the request; transmitting, by the storage manager, to a mediaagent that is associated with the first data storage device, one or moreinstructions to provision in the first data storage device the requestedfirst amount of data storage, wherein the media agent is also acomponent of the data storage management system; receiving, by thestorage manager, from the media agent, a confirmation that the firstamount of data storage has been provisioned in the first data storagedevice; transmitting, by the storage manager, to the user, aconfirmation that the first amount of data storage has been provisioned;and accessing, by a first client computing device associated with theuser, the first amount of data storage provisioned in the first storagedevice.

The above-recited method wherein the request comprises an expirationtimeframe for the first amount of data storage to be used as a datastorage resource; and wherein the expiration timeframe determines howlong the first amount of data storage provisioned in the first datastorage device may be accessed by one of the user and the first clientcomputing device. The above-recited method may further comprise: whereinthe request comprises an operational characteristic required of astorage device that is to provide the first amount of data storage to beused as a data storage resource; and wherein the identifying of thefirst data storage device in the data storage management system thatsatisfies the request is based on consulting a database associated withthe storage manager, wherein the database comprises one or moreoperational characteristics discovered by the storage manager in regardto one or more data storage devices installed in the data storagemanagement system. The above-recited method wherein the identifying ofthe first data storage device in the data storage management system thatsatisfies the request is based on an information management policy thatpermits access by the user to the first data storage device. Theabove-recited method wherein the identifying of the first data storagedevice in the data storage management system that satisfies the requestis based on an information management policy that permits access by thefirst client computing device to the first data storage device. Theabove-recited method wherein the identifying of the first data storagedevice in the data storage management system that satisfies the requestis based on an information management policy, which is stored in adatabase associated with the storage manager, and which permits accessto the first data storage device by one of; the user and the firstclient computing device.

The above-recited method wherein the identifying of the first datastorage device in the data storage management system that satisfies therequest is based on an information management policy, which is stored ina database associated with the storage manager, and which permits accessto the first data storage device if the first data storage devicesatisfies a predefined threshold level of usage. The above-recitedmethod wherein the identifying of the first data storage device in thedata storage management system that satisfies the request is based on aninformation management policy, which is stored in a database associatedwith the storage manager, and which permits access to the first datastorage device if the first data storage device satisfies a predefinedthreshold level of usage; and wherein the storage manager tracks usagelevels of one or more data storage devices installed in the data storagemanagement system, including the first data storage device. Theabove-recited method wherein the identifying of the first data storagedevice in the data storage management system that satisfies the requestis based on an information management policy, which is stored in adatabase associated with the storage manager, and which comprises anexpiration timeframe for access to the first data storage device; andwherein the expiration timeframe in the information management policydetermines how long the first amount of data storage provisioned in thefirst data storage device may be accessed by one of: the user and thefirst client computing device. The above-recited method may furthercomprise: tracking, by the storage manager, the first data storageresource in reference to an expiration timeframe thereof established byone of: the user's request, and an information management policy thatpermits access to the first data storage device. The above-recitedmethod may further comprise: tracking, by the storage manager, the firstdata storage device to determine a usage level for the first datastorage device; wherein the usage level for the first data storagedevice determines whether the first data storage device is identified bythe storage manager for another request for a second amount of datastorage to be used as a data storage resource in the data storagemanagement system. The above-recited method may further comprise:receiving, by the storage manager, a second request for a second amountof data storage to be used as a second data storage resource in the datastorage management system; determining, by the storage manager, that thefirst data storage device exceeds a usage-level threshold specified inan information management policy that governs provisioning of datastorage resources based on user requests; and based at least in part onthe determining, identifying, by the storage manager, a second datastorage device in the data storage management system that satisfies thesecond request and does not exceed the usage-level threshold specifiedin the information management policy. The above-recited method whereinthe accessing comprises mapping the first amount of data storageprovisioned in the first data storage device to the first clientcomputing device. The above-recited method wherein the accessingcomprises using on the first client computing device a mount point forthe first amount of data storage provisioned in the first storagedevice.

According to another illustrative embodiment, a system for provisioningdata storage resources based on user-submitted requests may comprise: astorage manager that executes on a computing device comprising one ormore processors and non-volatile computer memory; a database, stored innon-volatile computer memory and associated with the storage manager,for storing information used by the storage manager for managingoperations in the system; one or more data storage devices comprisingnon-volatile computer memory; a media agent that executes a computingdevice comprising one or more processors and non-volatile computermemory, wherein the media agent is associated with the one or more datastorage devices; and wherein the storage manager is programmed to:initiate discovery operations to discover operational characteristics ofthe one or more storage devices, store the discovered operationalcharacteristics of the one or more storage devices to the database, andstore an information policy to the database, wherein the informationmanagement policy governs granting of access to the one or more datastorage devices, by the storage manager, in response to requests fordata storage resources submitted by users of the system.

The above-recited system wherein the information management policycomprises an association between one or more first client computingdevices and the one or more data storage devices; and wherein the accessgranted in response to the requests for data storage requests for theone or more first client computing devices is limited to the one or moredata storage devices in the information management policy. Theabove-recited system wherein the information management policy comprisesan expiration timeframe for access granted to the one or more datastorage devices in response to the user requests. The above-recitedsystem may further comprise: a client computing device comprising one ormore processors and non-volatile computer memory; and wherein thestorage manager is further programmed to: receive a request from a userof the client computing device for a first amount of data storage spaceto be accessed as a data storage resource by the client computingdevice, based on the information management policy, identify a first oneof the one or more data storage devices that satisfies the request, andinstruct the media agent to provision the first amount of data storagespace in the identified first data storage device, wherein theprovisioned first amount of data storage space in the identified firstdata storage device becomes accessible as a data storage resource to theclient computing device. The above-recited system may further comprise:a client computing device comprising one or more processors andnon-volatile computer memory; and wherein the storage manager is furtherprogrammed to: receive a request from a user of the client computingdevice for a first amount of data storage space to be accessed as a datastorage resource by the client computing device, based onthe'information management policy, identify a first one of the one ormore data storage devices that satisfies the request, and instruct themedia agent to provision the first amount of data storage space in theidentified first data storage device, and grant to the client computingdevice access to the first amount of data storage provisioned in theidentified first data storage device.

The above-recited system may further comprise: a client computing devicecomprising one or more processors and non-volatile computer memory; andwherein the storage manager is further programmed to: receive a requestfrom a user of the client computing device for a first amount of datastorage space to be accessed as a data storage resource by the clientcomputing device, wherein the request also comprises an operationalcharacteristic required of a data storage device providing the firstamount of data storage space, identify a first data storage device thatsatisfies the request, based on the information management policy andthe operational characteristic in the request, wherein the first datastorage device is one of the one or more data storage devices, andinstruct the media agent to provision the first amount of data storagespace in the identified first data storage device, wherein theprovisioned first amount of data storage space in the identified firstdata storage device becomes accessible as a data storage resource to theclient computing device. The above-recited system may further comprise:a client computing device comprising one or more processors andnon-volatile computer memory; and wherein the storage manager is furtherprogrammed to: receive a request from a user of the client computingdevice for a first amount of data storage space to be accessed as a datastorage resource by the client computing device, wherein the requestcomprises an expiration timeframe that determines how long the firstamount of data storage space is to be accessed by the client computingdevice, identify a first data storage device that satisfies the requestbased on the information management policy, wherein the first datastorage device is one of the one or more data storage devices, andinstruct the media agent to provision the first amount of data storagespace in the identified first data storage device, wherein theprovisioned first amount of data storage space in the identified firstdata storage device becomes accessible as a data storage resource to theclient computing device, and after the expiration timeframe has expired,withdraw access to the by the client computing device to the datastorage resource. The above-recited system may further comprise: aclient computing device comprising one or more processors andnon-volatile computer memory; and wherein the storage manager is furtherprogrammed to: receive a request from a user of the client computingdevice for a first amount of data storage space to be accessed as a datastorage resource by the client computing device, identify a first datastorage device that satisfies the request based on the informationmanagement policy, wherein the first data storage device is one of theone or more data storage devices, and instruct the media agent toprovision the first amount of data storage space in the identified firstdata storage device, wherein the provisioned first amount of datastorage space in the identified first data storage device becomesaccessible as a data storage resource to the client computing device,and after an expiration timeframe specified by the informationmanagement policy has expired, withdraw from the client computing deviceaccess to the data storage resource.

The above-recited system may further comprise: a client computing devicecomprising one or more processors and non-volatile computer memory; andwherein the media agent is programmed to: in response to instructionsreceived from the storage manager, provision the first amount of datastorage space in an identified first data storage device, wherein thefirst data storage device is one of the one or more data storagedevices, and wherein the provisioned first amount of data storage spacein the identified first data storage device becomes accessible as a datastorage resource to the client computing device. The above-recitedsystem may further comprise; a client computing device comprising one ormore processors and non-volatile computer memory, wherein the clientcomputing device accesses a first assigned data storage space hosted bya first one of the one or more data storage devices; and wherein thestorage manager is further programmed to: discover a usage profile ofthe first data storage device, wherein the usage profile comprises anassociation between the first assigned data storage space and the clientcomputing device, and store to the database at least one of: thediscovered usage profile and the association. The above-recited systemmay further comprise: a client computing device comprising one or moreprocessors and non-volatile computer memory, wherein the clientcomputing device accesses a first assigned data storage space hosted bya first one of the one or more data storage devices; and wherein thestorage manager is further programmed to: discover a usage profile ofthe first data storage device, wherein the usage profile comprises anassociation between the first assigned data storage space and the clientcomputing device, and based on the discovered usage profile, amend theinformation management policy to govern access to the first assigneddata storage space by the client computing device. The above-recitedsystem may further comprise; a client computing device comprising one ormore processors and non-volatile computer memory, wherein the clientcomputing device accesses a first assigned data storage space hosted bya first one of the one or more data storage devices; and wherein thestorage manager is further programmed to: discover an associationbetween the first assigned data storage space and the client computingdevice, and apply the information management policy to the firstassigned data storage space, wherein, based on the applied informationmanagement policy, an expiration timeframe in the information managementpolicy governs how long the client computing device may access theassigned first data storage space.

According to yet another example embodiment of the present invention, atleast one computer-readable medium, excluding transitory propagatingsignals, may store instructions that, when executed by at least onecomputing device comprising one or more processors and non-volatilecomputer memory, will cause the at least one computing device to performoperations comprising: in response to a first request for a first amountof data storage space to be used as a storage resource, granting aclient computing device access to the first amount of data storage spaceas provisioned on a first data storage device; in response to atermination trigger for the storage resource, withdrawing from theclient computing device access to the first amount of data storage spaceprovisioned on the first data storage device; and restoring the firstamount of data storage space to a pool of available data storage devicesthat are to be made accessible in response to further requests for datastorage space.

The above-recited at least one computer-readable medium wherein thegranting of access to the first amount of data storage space is based onan information management policy that governs the pool of available datastorage devices that can be made accessible to the client computingdevice. The above-recited at least one computer-readable medium whereinthe first request comprises an operational characteristic that isrequired of a data storage device that is to host the requested firstamount of data storage space; and wherein the granting of access to thefirst amount of data storage space is based on matching the requestedoperational characteristic with a data storage device in the pool ofavailable data storage devices. The above-recited at least onecomputer-readable medium wherein the operations further comprise: priorto the granting of access, discovering one or more operationalcharacteristics of each data storage device in the pool of availabledata storage devices.

The above-recited at least one computer-readable medium wherein therequested operational characteristic is a type of storage array, whereinthe type is defined by the identity of the storage array's manufacturer.The above-recited at least one computer-readable medium wherein therequested operational characteristic is an input-output speed of thedata storage device. The above-recited at least one computer-readablemedium wherein the requested operational characteristic is a type ofstorage technology of the data storage device. The above-recited atleast one computer-readable medium wherein the requested operationalcharacteristic is a storage capacity of the data storage device. Theabove-recited at least one computer-readable medium wherein therequested operational characteristic is a storage interconnect protocolused by the data storage device. The above-recited at least onecomputer-readable medium wherein the requested operationalcharacteristic is a number of provisionable storage entities in the datastorage device.

In other embodiments of the present invention, a system or systems mayoperate according to one or more of the methods and/or computer-readablemedia recited in the preceding paragraphs. In yet other embodiments, amethod or methods may operate according to one or more of the systemsand/or computer-readable media recited in the preceding paragraphs. Inyet more embodiments, a computer-readable medium or media, excludingtransitory propagating signals, may cause one or more computing deviceshaving one or more processors and non-transitory computer-readablememory to operate according to one or more of the systems and/or methodsrecited in the preceding paragraphs.

Terminology

Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or“may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understoodwithin the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certainembodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certainfeatures, elements and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is notgenerally intended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are inany way required for one or more embodiments or that one or moreembodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without userinput or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps areincluded or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout thedescription and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and thelike are to be construed in an inclusive sense, as opposed to anexclusive or exhaustive sense, i.e., in the sense of “including, but notlimited to.” As used herein, the terms “connected,” “coupled,” or anyvariant thereof means any connection or coupling, either direct orindirect, between two or more elements; the coupling or connectionbetween the elements can be physical, logical, or a combination thereof.Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below,” and words of similarimport, when used in this application, refer to this application as awhole and not to any particular portions of this application. Where thecontext permits, words using the singular or plural number may alsoinclude the plural or singular number respectively. The word “or” inreference to a list of two or more items, covers all of the followinginterpretations of the word: any one of the items in the list, all ofthe items in the list, and any combination of the items in the list.Likewise the term “and/or” in reference to a list of two or more items,covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any one of theitems in the list, all of the items in the list, and any combination ofthe items in the list,

In some embodiments, certain operations, acts, events, or functions ofany of the algorithms described herein can be performed in a differentsequence, can be added, merged, or left out altogether (e.g., not allare necessary for the practice of the algorithms). In certainembodiments, operations, acts, functions, or events can be performedconcurrently, e.g., through multi-threaded processing, interruptprocessing, or multiple processors or processor cores or on otherparallel architectures, rather than sequentially.

Systems and modules described herein may comprise software, firmware,hardware, or any combination(s) of software, firmware, or hardwaresuitable for the purposes described. Software and other modules mayreside and execute on servers, workstations, personal computers,computerized tablets, PDAs, and other computing devices suitable for thepurposes described herein. Software and other modules may be accessiblevia local computer memory, via a network, via a browser, or via othermeans suitable for the purposes described herein. Data structuresdescribed herein may comprise computer files, variables, programmingarrays, programming structures, or any electronic information storageschemes or methods, or any combinations thereof, suitable for thepurposes described herein. User interface elements described herein maycomprise elements from graphical user interfaces, interactive voiceresponse, command line interfaces, and other suitable interfaces.

Further, processing of the various components of the illustrated systemscan be distributed across multiple machines, networks, and othercomputing resources. Two or more components of a system can be combinedinto fewer components. Various components of the illustrated systems canbe implemented in one or more virtual machines, rather than in dedicatedcomputer hardware systems and/or computing devices. Likewise, the datarepositories shown can represent physical and/or logical data storage,including, e.g., storage area networks or other distributed storagesystems. Moreover, in some embodiments the connections between thecomponents shown represent possible paths of data flow, rather thanactual connections between hardware. While some examples of possibleconnections are shown, any of the subset of the components shown cancommunicate with any other subset of components in variousimplementations.

Embodiments are also described above with reference to flow chartillustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) andcomputer program products. Each block of the flow chart illustrationsand/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flow chartillustrations and/or block diagrams, may be implemented by computerprogram instructions. Such instructions may be provided to a processorof a general purpose computer, special purpose computer,specially-equipped computer (e.g., comprising a high-performancedatabase server, a graphics subsystem, etc.) or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions,which execute via the processor(s) of the computer or other programmabledata processing apparatus, create means for implementing the actsspecified in the flow chart and/or block diagram block or blocks. Thesecomputer program instructions may also be stored in a non-transitorycomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to operate in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the acts specified in the flow chart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also beloaded to a computing device or other programmable data processingapparatus to cause operations to be performed on the computing device orother programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented processsuch that the instructions which execute on the computing device orother programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the actsspecified in the flow chart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

Any patents and applications and other references noted above, includingany that may be listed in accompanying filing papers, are incorporatedherein by reference. Aspects of the invention can be modified, ifnecessary, to employ the systems, functions, and concepts of the variousreferences described above to provide yet further implementations of theinvention. These and other changes can be made to the invention in lightof the above Detailed Description. While the above description describescertain examples of the invention, and describes the best modecontemplated, no matter how detailed the above appears in text, theinvention can be practiced in many ways. Details of the system may varyconsiderably in its specific implementation, while still beingencompassed by the invention disclosed herein. As noted above,particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspectsof the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology isbeing redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics,features, or aspects of the invention with which that terminology isassociated. In general, the terms used in the following claims shouldnot be construed to limit the invention to the specific examplesdisclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Descriptionsection explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope ofthe invention encompasses not only the disclosed examples, but also allequivalent ways of practicing or implementing the invention under theclaims.

To reduce the number of claims, certain aspects of the invention arepresented below in certain claim forms, but the applicant contemplatesother aspects of the invention in any number of claim forms. Forexample, while only one aspect of the invention is recited as ameans-plus-function claim under 35 U.S.C. sec. 112(f) (AIA), otheraspects may likewise be embodied as a means-plus-function claim, or inother forms, such as being embodied in a computer-readable medium. Anyclaims intended to be treated under 35 U.S.C. §112(f) will begin withthe words “means for”, but use of the term “for” in any other context isnot intended to invoke treatment under 35 U.S.C. §112(f). Accordingly,the applicant reserves the right to pursue additional claims afterfiling this application, in either this application or in a continuingapplication.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by a storagemanager component that manages a data storage management system, auser-submitted request for a first amount of data storage to be used asa data storage resource in the data storage management system;identifying, by the storage manager, a first data storage device in thedata storage management system that satisfies the request; transmitting,by the storage manager, to a media agent that is associated with thefirst data storage device, one or more instructions to provision in thefirst data storage device the requested first amount of data storage,wherein the media agent is also a component of the data storagemanagement system; receiving, by the storage manager, from the mediaagent, a confirmation that the first amount of data storage has beenprovisioned in the first data storage device; transmitting, by thestorage manager, to the user, a confirmation that the first amount ofdata storage has been provisioned; and accessing, by a first clientcomputing device associated with the user, the first amount of datastorage provisioned in the first storage device.
 2. The method of claim1 wherein the request comprises an operational characteristic requiredof a storage device that is to provide the first amount of data storageto be used as a data storage resource; and wherein the identifying ofthe first data storage device in the data storage management system thatsatisfies the request is based on consulting a database associated withthe storage manager, wherein the database comprises one or moreoperational characteristics discovered by the storage manager in regardto one or more data storage devices installed in the data storagemanagement system.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the identifying ofthe first data storage device in the data storage management system thatsatisfies the request is based on an information management policy,which is stored in a database associated with the storage manager, andwhich permits access to the first data storage device by one of: theuser and the first client computing device.
 4. The method of claim 1wherein the identifying of the first data storage device in the datastorage management system that satisfies the request is based on aninformation management policy, which is stored in a database associatedwith the storage manager, and which permits access to the first datastorage device if the first data storage device satisfies a predefinedthreshold level of usage.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein theidentifying of the first data storage device in the data storagemanagement system that satisfies the request is based on an informationmanagement policy, which is stored in a database associated with thestorage manager, and which comprises an expiration timeframe for accessto the first data storage device; and wherein the expiration timeframein the information management policy determines how long the firstamount of data storage provisioned in the first data storage device maybe accessed by one of: the user and the first client computing device.6. The method of claim 1 further comprising: tracking, by the storagemanager, the first data storage device to determine a usage level forthe first data storage device; wherein the usage level for the firstdata storage device determines whether the first data storage device isidentified by the storage manager for another request for a secondamount of data storage to be used as a data storage resource in the datastorage management system.
 7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:receiving, by the storage manager, a second request for a second amountof data storage to be used as a second data storage resource in the datastorage management system; determining, by the storage manager, that thefirst data storage device exceeds a usage-level threshold specified inan information management policy that governs provisioning of datastorage resources based on user requests; and based at least in part onthe determining, identifying, by the storage manager, a second datastorage device in the data storage management system that satisfies thesecond request and does not exceed the usage-level threshold specifiedin the information management policy.
 8. A system for provisioning datastorage resources based on user-submitted requests, the systemcomprising: a storage manager that executes on a computing devicecomprising one or more processors and non-volatile computer memory; adatabase, stored in non-volatile computer memory and associated with thestorage manager, for storing information used by the storage manager formanaging operations in the system; one or more data storage devicescomprising non-volatile computer memory; a media agent that executes acomputing device comprising one or more processors and non-volatilecomputer memory, wherein the media agent is associated with the one ormore data storage devices; and wherein the storage manager is programmedto: initiate discovery operations to discover operationalcharacteristics of the one or more storage devices, store the discoveredoperational characteristics of the one or more storage devices to thedatabase, and store an information policy to the database, wherein theinformation management policy governs granting of access to the one ormore data storage devices, by the storage manager, in response torequests for data storage resources submitted by users of the system. 9.The system of claim 8 wherein the information management policycomprises an association between one or more first client computingdevices and the one or more data storage devices; and wherein the accessgranted in response to the requests for data storage requests for theone or more first client computing devices is limited to the one or moredata storage devices in the information management policy.
 10. Thesystem of claim 8 wherein the storage manager is further programmed to:receive a request from a user for a first amount of data storage spaceto be accessed as a data storage resource by a client computing device,wherein the request also comprises an operational characteristicrequired of a data storage device providing the first amount of datastorage space, identify a first data storage device that satisfies therequest, based on the information management policy and the operationalcharacteristic in the request, wherein the first data storage device isone of the one or more data storage devices, and instruct the mediaagent to provision the first amount of data storage space in theidentified first data storage device, wherein the provisioned firstamount of data storage space in the identified first data storage devicebecomes accessible as a data storage resource to the client computingdevice.
 11. The system of claim 8 wherein the storage manager is furtherprogrammed to: receive a request from a user for a first amount of datastorage space to be accessed as a data storage resource by a clientcomputing device, wherein the request comprises an expiration timeframethat determines how long the first amount of data storage space is to beaccessed by the client computing device, identify a first data storagedevice that satisfies the request based on the information managementpolicy, wherein the first data storage device is one of the one or moredata storage devices, and instruct the media agent to provision thefirst amount of data storage space in the identified first data storagedevice, wherein the provisioned first amount of data storage space inthe identified first data storage device becomes accessible as a datastorage resource to the client computing device, and after theexpiration timeframe has expired, withdraw access to the by the clientcomputing device to the data storage resource.
 12. The system of claim 8further comprising: a client computing device comprising one or moreprocessors and non-volatile computer memory, wherein the clientcomputing device accesses a first assigned data storage space hosted bya first one of the one or more data storage devices; and wherein thestorage manager is further programmed to: discover a usage profile ofthe first data storage device, wherein the usage profile comprises anassociation between the first assigned data storage space and the clientcomputing device, and store to the database at least one of: thediscovered usage profile and the association.
 13. The system of claim 8further comprising: a client computing device comprising one or moreprocessors and non-volatile computer memory, wherein the clientcomputing device accesses a first assigned data storage space hosted bya first one of the one or more data storage devices; and wherein thestorage manager is further programmed to: discover a usage profile ofthe first data storage device, wherein the usage profile comprises anassociation between the first assigned data storage space and the clientcomputing device, and based on the discovered usage profile, amend theinformation management policy to govern access to the first assigneddata storage space by the client computing device.
 14. At least onecomputer-readable medium, excluding transitory propagating signals,storing instructions that, when executed by at least one computingdevice comprising one or more processors and non-volatile computermemory, cause the at least one computing device to perform operationscomprising: in response to a first request for a first amount of datastorage space to be used as a storage resource, granting a clientcomputing device access to the first amount of data storage space asprovisioned on a first data storage device; in response to a terminationtrigger for the storage resource, withdrawing from the client computingdevice access to the first amount of data storage space provisioned onthe first data storage device; and restoring the first amount of datastorage space to a pool of available data storage devices that are to bemade accessible in response to further requests for data storage space.15. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein thegranting of access to the first amount of data storage space is based onan information management policy that governs the pool of available datastorage devices that can be made accessible to the client computingdevice.
 16. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 14,wherein the operations further comprise: prior to the granting ofaccess, discovering one or more operational characteristics of each datastorage device in the pool of available data storage devices.
 17. The atleast one computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the requestedoperational characteristic is a type of storage array, wherein the typeis defined by the identity of the storage array's manufacturer.
 18. Theat least one computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the requestedoperational characteristic is an input-output speed of the data storagedevice.
 19. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 16,wherein the requested operational characteristic is a storageinterconnect protocol used by the data storage device.
 20. The at leastone computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the requestedoperational characteristic is a number of provisionable storage entitiesin the data storage device.